2021

There have been no reforms to date in this area. 

2020

The most recent policy changes in the Republic of Serbia refer to adoptions of three new bylaws.

Bylaw on Special Educational Programme defines implementation of teaching and learning in case of state of emergency or unpredictable circumstances in particular, currently ongoing Covid-19 measures. Some of the main recommendations in the document are related to: acceptable deviation from  the content of the formal curriculum (every teacher can adapt up to 20% of curriculum), shorter school hour (direct teaching with students lasts 30 minutes instead of the usual 45) and evaluation based on learning outcomes.

Bylaw on the Specifics of the Implementation, Quality Assurance and Evaluation of Distance Education in Primary School defines the characteristics  of distance education and its specifics such as objectives and tasks, implementation conditions and approaches in quality assurance and evaluation of student’s achievement during the distance learning. By this bylaw, the special educational programme is more precisely defined. Namely, the Institute for Improvement of Education is in charge for its preparation based on the initiative from the Ministry od Education, Science and Technological Development and in accordance with the Law on the Education System Foundations. The bylaw specifies the changes of the school hour, methodical instructions and recommendations for organization of classes as well as period of implementation. This bylaw also defines the right to distance education.

Bylaw on the Specifics of Implementation, Quality Assurance and Evaluation of Home-Educated Primary School Students defines the characteristics and the implementation of the home education, its forms and structure. This bylaw also describes the procedures of quality assurance and evaluation of student’s achievement in this educational context and the right to home education.

Considering the crisis, in addition to above-mentioned policy reforms, there are some recommendations and frameworks for teachers developed in relation to Covid-19 prevention. One of them is the Framework for Assessment of Capacity of Primary and Secondary Schools for Implementation of Distance Education in Case when Direct Work with Students is Suspended (available here). Also, one of them is guideline with the plan of implementation of classes for every school subject: The Recommendations for the Implementation of Classes during Unpredictable Circumstances (available here).

2019

Bylaw on standards of career guidance and counselling services

This cross-sectoral document was adopted by the Ministry of education, science and technological development with the aim to serve as a guideline for planning and coordinating career guidance activities in a primary and secondary school as well as HEI. The document defines four areas of standards: Standards of career management skills, Standards of career guidance practitioners competences, Organizational standards and Standards of Program.

• Standards of career management skills define key outcomes of quality career guidance and counselling services and can serve as a guideline for defining goals and outcomes of activities provided by one educational institution.
• Standards of career guidance practitioners competences are guidelines for self-assessment of career guidance practitioners competencies as well as for providers of CPD programs for guidance practitioners.
• Organizational standards define key conditions for quality services regarding space, staff and documentation.
• Standards of Program define key elements of a quality program for career guidance and counselling services such as target group, goals, activities and methods, evaluation and monitoring etc.

Bylaw on student assessment in primary education

This bylaw defines methods, timing and criteria of assessment of students’ achievement in compulsory and optional subjects during primary education. The document recognizes summative and formative type of assessment. Formative assessment is defined as a continuous assessment of students’ achievement in reaching educational outcomes of the subject and student performance in curricular and extracurricular activities. Summative assessment is an assessment of students’ achievement at the end of the part of a program or a whole semester. Mark can be descriptive or numeric. Bylaw recognizes marks from 1 to 5, where 1 is the lowest mark insufficient for passing the subject and 5 is the highest mark which means that students successfully achieved educational outcomes. The bylaw introduces initial assessment at the beginning of the school year which serves for planning and monitoring of students’ achievement throughout the year.

Bylaw on the evaluation of institutions

Document Bylaw on the evaluation of institutions defines procedures of external and internal evaluation, their connection with school development plan and indicators of evaluation and monitoring. Described procedures of evaluation refer to preschool institutions, primary schools and general and vocational secondary schools.

• Evaluation refers to the monitoring of different aspects of individual schools as institutions. This procedure covers internal (self-evaluation) and external school evaluation.
• Schools use feedback on their performance and quality (which is given as evaluation results) to identify the ways for improvement of their practices, further development and management.
• The internal evaluation covers a whole set of inputs provided by school leadership, teachers, other staff, students, parents, school and the local community.
• Internal Evaluation Team is in charge of the internal evaluation process (data collection, planning, reporting, etc.). Main support to the Team is given by the district school authority and the Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation.

Bylaw on the Model institution

The Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development has issued a Bylaw on a Model Institution whose application will start as of school 2019/2020.

The model institution is defined as an institution that achieves outstanding results in education work and contributes to the improvement of education and training in accordance with the general principles and objectives of education through the implementation of school or preschool program.

The goal of establishing a model institution is to develop, support, promote and transmit examples of outstanding education and training practices, and to provide guidance for improving and planning the development of education and training systems.

The Bylaw regulates conditions for acquiring the status of the model institution as well as the termination of the validity of such status. Issuing of professional guidance as support to institutions for initiating and implementing the procedure for acquiring the status of the model institution should follow.

A Guide for Establishing Student Cooperatives and Comprehending Entrepreneurship

The Law on the Education System Foundation envisages schools to establish a pupil ‘s cooperatives in order to develop the extracurricular activities and the entrepreneurial spirit. In this regard, the Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development has in 2018 adopted the Bylaw on pupils’ co-operatives stipulating the content of the founding act, the acquisition and termination of the cooperative status, the management and running of the student cooperative.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development has now published a Guide for Pupils' Cooperatives, which provides a practical roadmap for the establishment of pupils’ cooperatives, as well as understanding of entrepreneurship and the development of entrepreneurial teachers’ and students’ competences.

The publication was created within the project "Professional Training Program: Teacher Training in the Field of Developing Entrepreneurial Competences for Teachers and Pupils and Creating Conditions for Implementation of Entrepreneurship in Primary Schools" implemented by the Women's Business Association of Serbia.