School or preschool institution head has the following duties in educational institution, as regulated by the Law on the Education System Foundations and institution’s statute:

1. Planning and organising the realisation of education and care programmes and activities and developing internal quality assurance system for the institution;
2. Managing quality assurance, self-evaluation and accomplishment of achievement standards;
3. Managing accomplishment of institution’s development plan;
4. Deciding on the use of the funds from the financial plan, with responsibility for the appropriate use of these funds, in accordance with the law;
5. Collaboration with local authorities, organizations and associations;
6. Supporting entrepreneurial education;
7. Providing opportunities for continuing professional development of teachers;
8. Organisation of pedagogical assessment and evaluation of teaching quality and implementation of professional development and improvement plan;
9. Bearing responsibility for the regularity of all examinations in the institution;
10. Taking action in case of law violations and other types of misbehaviour of employees;
11. Implementation of educational inspectors’ and educational advisors’ instructions;
12. Taking care of timely and accurate data collection and entry;
13. Taking care of timely informing of staff, pupils/students, parents and authorities on all relevant matters;
14. Convening and chairing the meetings of educational, teacher, or the pedagogical councils;
15. Forming expert bodies and teams and coordinating their work;
16. Collaboration with parents and supporting the work of the parents’ council;
17. Reporting about their own and institution’s work to the school authorities, at least twice a year;
18. Adoption of a general act on organisation and operations;
19. Deciding on rights, duties and responsibilities of pupils/students and school staff, according to the law;
20. Cooperating with pupils and pupils’ parliament;
21. Deciding on an appeal against the decision of the selection committee for the selection of candidates for admission to the employment;

Managing board in preschool institutions and school board in schools are the bodies responsible for managing the institution, together with the head. Board members are teachers or other school staff, parents’ representatives and local authority’s representatives. The board consists of 9 members appointed for the period of 4 years. The board has the following duties:

1. Adopts the statute, rules of conduct and other general acts and gives consent to the bylaw on organization and operations;
2. Adopts preschool or school programme, development plan, annual work plan and monitors their implementation;
3. Produces the proposal of the financial plan;
4. Adopts the financial plan of the institution;
5. Adopts work and teaching reports;
6. Announces the call for the institution’s head election;
7. Gives opinion and proposes to the minister a list of candidates for the election of the institution’s head;
8. Concludes a contract with the institution head on his rights, obligations and responsibilities;
9. Decides on the rights and obligations of the institution’s head;
10. Decides on the expansion of the activity of the institution;
11. Evaluates the observance of the general principles, the realisation of the objectives of education and achievement standards, and takes measures to improve the working conditions and the realisation of educational activities;
12. Adopts the plan on professional development of staff;
13. Decides on appeals regarding institution head decisions

Requirements for Appointment

According to the Law on the Education System Foundations, all school staff, including school management, has to fulfil general conditions for employment:

• appropriate education;
• psychological, physical and medical fitness to work with children and students;
• no previous criminal convictions;
• citizenship of the Republic of Serbia;
• proficient knowledge of teaching language.

These conditions are checked during the selection process and reassessed during the employment. Any violation of conditions implies dismissal.

Specific conditions apply for each position separately.

To become the educational institution’s head, a person has to fulfil the following conditions:

• possess a higher education diploma for at least 4 years long undergraduate programme or a master diploma;
• work license;
• passed professional exam for educational institutions’ head;
• at least 8 years of work in an educational institution.

Exceptionally, a person with bachelor (3 year long programme) diploma may be employed as a head, in which case 10 years long experience of working in an educational institution is required, while other conditions remain the same. A person may be employed as head without the license and the passed exam with the obligation to obtain the license during the first two years of the employment.

Assistant head may be a teacher or education specialist already employed at the institution. Assistant head continues with other duties (e.g. teaching) while assisting the head with realisation of education programmes, coordination of expert bodies and other affairs.

Secretary of the institution performs legal affairs of the institution. Conditions of employment for the secretary are:

• graduated from at least 4 years long undergraduate Law programme;
• passed professional exam for the secretary (the exam has to be passed during the first two years of the employment).

Conditions of Service

According to the Law on the Education System Foundations, preschool or school head candidates are proposed to the minister by the managing/school board on a competitive basis, after obtaining the opinion of the educational and teacher council. The Minister then revises the proposal, elects the director and decides on his appointment.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development is responsible for determining all conditions on selection of new heads and conditions on their employment, as well as for all regulations regarding the professional exam and license. 

The managing/school board dismisses the institution’s head in the following cases:

1. fails to meet the requirements of related institution’s head education;
2. refuses to undergo a medical examination at the request of the managing authority or the minister;
3. the institution does not implement the education or training program or does not take measures to achieve the principles, goals and standards of achievement;
4. failure to implement measures of safety and protection of children and pupils;
5. due to omissions in the prevention of discrimination;Failure to assure timely and accurate data entry and maintenance;
6. Failure to provide institution’s data, documentation and records in accordance with the law;
7. Failure to pass the professional exam and obtain the licence during the first two years of the employment;
8. Failure to act on the authority or competent authority to remedy the deficiencies and irregularities;
9. criminal offense or misbehaviour;
10. during his term of office, the school has been assessed two consecutive times with the lowest grade for quality of work; did not provide conditions for inspection, pedagogic supervision and external evaluation;
11. interfere with the work of management and employees, incomplete, timely and inaccurate disclosure;
12. did not provide timely and accurate entry and maintenance of the database of institutions within the unique information system of education as well as control of data entered;
13. if it has made a mistake in implementing the process of electing new employees in accordance with the law;
14. if he or she fails to process processing of employee misdemeanors;
15. committed other offenses in accordance with the law.