Continuing reforms in education

The European Union continues to monitor the results of reforms in the field of education as part of the process of European integration of Serbia, said the EU Ambassador to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, at the Fourth High-Level Policy Dialogue in the field of education.

The Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia assessed that this is an important transition period for both Serbia and the EU, in the context of global challenges. With this in mind, the European institutions in the previous period have adopted a number of documents with recommendations and guidelines for improving the education system.

Ambassador Giaufret welcomed Serbia's participation in programs such as Erasmus + and Horizon 2020. He also assessed that such meetings are an example of good practice for exchanging views and a good example of continuous dialogue, with the participation of civil society and international partners.

The Ambassador also stated that Serbia needs to continue working on key issues such as systemic support for children from vulnerable categories, and that additional support for early education is needed.

Further work is needed to establish a coherent information system that will include international indicators and to achieve full compliance of the quality assurance mechanism in higher education with the recommendations of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).

The European Commission in the Report assesses that Serbia is at a good level of development in the field of education and youth, which is assessed through Chapter 26. The Commission welcomes the new education Strategy until 2030 and the intention to ensure continued implementation of the reform, building on previous results. However, it was stated that the assessment of the financial resources needed to implement the action plan should be more consistent and more clearly highlight the need for additional resources to implement the reform.

Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Branko Ruzic expressed satisfaction with the results achieved in the field of education in the past year, as well as because the European Union has recognized and supported these efforts.

"This is confirmed by the successful implementation of most of the activities planned and supported from the so-called Sectoral Budget Support, as a modality of the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), which is designed to strengthen a systematic approach to achieving strategic goals," said the Minister Ruzic.

He expressed gratitude to the EU for supporting Serbia in the implementation of systemic reforms in the field of education in the previous period.

Among others, Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic, Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, Minister of Youth and Sports Vanja Udovicic, Minister of Human and Minority Rights Gordana Comic, as well as representatives of other relevant ministries spoke at the meeting.

The Inter-Ministerial Council is a body established in the Republic of Serbia for the effective coordination, at the highest level, of all activities necessary for successful and comprehensive implementation of educational reform, respectively realization of strategic goals defined primarily by the Strategy for Development of Education in Serbia until 2030 adopted in June this year, according to a statement from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development.