The Big Wish

Jan Poncar leaves Prague to teach in his native Southern Bohemia. He is driven to the village of Doubravice by his girlfriend Eva. But the mondaine girl does not want to live in the village and the couple breaks up. The headmaster Karpíšek welcomes the fact that the female staff will finally be added to with a man. Pupils of the sixth grade which Karel takes over are unruly and have a great lack of knowledge, which is soon proved by a dictation. The inexperienced teacher, however, does not really manage the first lesson. The children bang into their desks with the first merest pretence. There are distinct personalities in the class: the impudent Pepík, the assiduous Anička Lebedová, the moody Ivo Strnad and the sensitive and intelligent TomᚠKalous. The last-named lives alone with his mother, Poncar's colleague Marie. The teacher finds a way to get rid of the pupils' banging - he joins the vociferating kids himself. He suggests they establish a scoring system to assess fulfilling tasks, initiative and independent thinking. He fulfills the winners' wishes, takes the children to the countryside and teaches them to employ their acquired knowledge. He gradually wins their favour. Only Ivo relies on his mother, the chairman of the parents' association, who blames the teacher for the worsened school results. The female teachers are largely jealous of Poncar's increasing popularity. They are all mothers of families and have no time to tend to the pupils in their leisure time, while the teacher heads several interest clubs. An emotional relation begins between Jan and Marie but Tomᚠlongs for his father's return. Eva regrets their breakup; she has, however, lost Jan definitely. The boys throw a tomahawk in the school playground under Jan's supervision. But Jan's attention is diverted by a colleague and Tomᚠunfortunately wounds Ivo who ridiculed him that his father will never come back. An investigation begins and Strnadová wants exemplary punishment. The colleague's testimony and Ivo's confession help the teacher. Also the school caretaker Král stands on his side, claiming that Poncar would make even comrade John Amos Comenius happy.