Education, first and foremost employee education, was a strategic part of the Bata system. In Zruč nad Sázavou - Bata, too, the Bata School of Labour began operating immediately after the start of production in May 1939. At first it was taught in the factory, later in the factory building. After the completion of "the most modern school building in the region", both the general school (March 1941) and the shoemaker's school were moved there, and later the Bata School of Young Women's Work (September 1942).
Regarding the authorship of the school building project, the literature speaks about the cooperation of architects Vladimír Karfík and Miroslav Drofa. The plans signed by Miroslav Drofa have been preserved in the building files of the Department of Building Office, Planning and Environment of the Zruč nad Sázavou Municipal Office. A similar school building was built by the Bata concern in Zlín and in the Bata factory towns of Sezimovo Ústí and Martfű (Hungary), which were built at the same time as the new Zruč.
The site for the construction of the school building was situated on the edge of the residential area near the social centre. The building permit for the construction of a twelve-class school was issued on 5 November 1939. The building permit also includes the minutes of the meeting, which indicate the relationship between the municipality and the Bata concern: "In response to the request made that the school be located closer to the town, the representative of the Bata company, the builder Slováček, replied that a change of location was out of the question and that the company would build two more schools closer to the town. Since the municipality is not contributing anything to the construction, the representatives of the municipality had to be satisfied with this statement." However, due to the construction ban issued by the German authorities in 1942, the construction of further school buildings did not take place. According to the dates on contemporary photographs, it is clear that the excavation of the foundations of the future school began the day after the building permit was issued. The school was completed after sixteen months in February 1941.
The dominant feature of the front facade is the balcony above the entrance door, which together with the bevelled side walls creates a lee and adds monumentality to the main entrance. However, both of these elements are absent from the original designs. Originally there were always to be two tall pilasters running across all three storeys next to the entrance. The entrance door with the window above the door was to have a decorative surround. However, the plans were soon changed and the building was built with a balcony. Interestingly, the side walls at the entrance door have no load-bearing function, as the balcony is part of the reinforced concrete structure. However, this is different from the typical Bata reinforced concrete skeleton that was used in the construction of the factory buildings and the community centre. The load-bearing pillars of the school building are square in cross-section and form a rectangular grid, so that the central tract is narrower (3.80 m) than the outer tract, which houses the classrooms (6.10 m). The side elevations have shallow rendered pilasters in place of the reinforced concrete structure, creating a contrast to the brick cladding. The front and rear elevations are dominated by rendered areas.
The school building is partially undercrofted. The basement housed the boiler and coal room. On the ground floor there were cloakrooms, two workshops, a one-room janitor's flat and a gymnasium with a cloakroom, washroom and shower room. The gymnasium (17.50 x 11.00 m) was partially recessed below ground level. The second floor contained five classrooms, two offices, a principal's office, a choir room, a doctor's office and toilets. The third floor had seven classrooms, a study and toilets. The floors were mostly xylolite (a poured floor covering made of a mixture of sawdust and binder), except for the gymnasium (parquet), toilets and washrooms (tile), and locker rooms (cement screed).
Education at the Bata School of Labour lasted two years. The first apprenticeship examinations were held in June 1943. The best pupils could continue at the master school in Zlín. However, the Zruč apprentices had a different working regime than those from Zlín. In the Svobodny slova of September 1945, the following complaint is made on this subject: 'The young men of the Bata branch plant in Zruč nad Sázavou [...] are forced to work nine hours physically in the workshops like any other worker and after this work to sit for three hours in the evening course. [...] The last three hours at school over a book are, of course, completely useless, because the young men sleep during them, as otherwise it is impossible. That this can also be arranged in other ways is shown by the Bata factory in Zlín, where the same category of apprentices work five hours in the workshops and study four hours at school a day." In the school building, besides standard teaching, there were also courses in German and other foreign languages, physical education, business correspondence and shorthand. A music club and a photography club had their facilities there.
In 1946 the Bata School of Labour was moved to Zlín as part of the centralisation of education. The building continued to be used for general and primary education until 1981, when a new primary school building was built. Then the building housed an apprenticeship, which was closed in the 1990s. In 2012, the adaptation of the school into a community centre was completed. The building has been insulated, but the new facade follows the original combination of brickwork and rendered brickwork. Similarly, in the interiors, an effort was made to restore as many original features as possible. The school building is one of the best preserved monuments of Bata's construction in Zruč nad Sázavou.
