Self-evaluation teams of all public preschool institutions in Serbia received support during the entire self-evaluation process, in the period September 2022 – May 2023.

Within the project “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care” implemented by the Ministry of Education, (MOE) with the support of the World Bank, as part of the goal of Improving the process of self-evaluation in preschool institutions (PI), support is provided for strengthening the competencies of practitioners who are recognized as key actors in the process changes in practice by the starting points of the program conception of preschool education and education (PVO) “Godine uzleta”. To that end, the Project provided support:

• prepared resources for self-evaluation of the work of preschool institutions (proposed instruments – checklists, questionnaires, questions for focus groups, proposed questions for consultation with children);

• prepared Guide Self – evaluation in preschool institutions – Guide for employees in preschool institutions (printed and distributed to all public PIs in a circulation of 10,600 copies);

• realized one-day training for self-evaluation teams of public PIs (2022);

• created an electronic version of the instruments and MS Forms applications (on the website of ZUOVa), which facilitates the self-evaluation teams and significantly shortens the data processing process;

• training for around 100 educational advisors from all school administrations in the territory of the Republic of Serbia was carried out to empower them to provide support to practitioners in PI through the new program concept.

• mentoring support for self-evaluation teams of all public preschool institutions throughout the entire cycle of self-evaluation during the 2022/23 working years;

• the creation of a database with examples of good practices in self-evaluation is underway, which will be posted on the Project’s website after preparation.

In the period from September 2022 to May 2023, 30 female mentors engaged and trained within the Project provided support to PI in the self-evaluation process, which took place by the revised concept of self-evaluation presented in the Guide and based on the model of mentoring support developed as part of the Project.

During this process, the mentors held three live meetings and two online meetings with the self-evaluation teams from PI. Also, during the self-evaluation process, the mentors had continuous communication with the institutions during which they gave the practitioners from the teams answers to the questions regarding the challenges they encountered in the self-evaluation process.

 At the beginning of June, reports from all public PIs on the mentoring support provided in the self-evaluation process were collected and forwarded to the expert team, which is in the process of creating a summary report on providing support in the self-evaluation process for all public PIs in Serbia.

In the same period, examples of good practice were identified. About ten examples are in the stage of final revision, after which they will be posted on the Project website https://ecec.mpn.gov.rs/

You can see the photos here.

As part of her official visit to the Republic of Serbia, the Minister of Labor and Social Policy of North Macedonia visited the kindergarten – cluster center within the public preschool institution “Dr. Sima Milosevic”

On Friday, 21^st of July, 2023, in the period from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., the delegation of the Republic of North Macedonia, led by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Mrs. Jovana Trencevska, visited the “Zemunski Biser” kindergarten, at Dragana Rakica Street 39, in Zemun.

In front of the Ministry of Education, the host was the state secretary, Mrs. Anamarija Vicek. In addition to her, the following participated in the visit: Ljiljana Marolt, head of the Group for Preschool education and care, and in front of the Project – Biljana Hroneos Krasavac, director, and Marija Belenzada, consultant for PVO.

In addition to the minister, the Macedonian delegation included: Natasa Dimoska, head of the Cabinet, and members of the Project Management Unit, which is implemented in North Macedonia with the support of the World Bank: Elizabeta Kunovska, director, Natasa Stojanovska, grant coordinator and Anica Gjurovska IT coordinator.

In front of the “Zemunski biser” kindergarten, which is one of the 5 kindergartens – cluster centers for the implementation of the new Foundations of the PVO program “Godine uzleta”, the host was Jasmina Bouali Stanojkovic, director of the public preschool institution (PI) “Dr. Sima Milosevic”, with a professional assistant – pedagogue and educators.

The visit, which was extended from the planned 1 hour to almost 2 hours, took place in an open and direct atmosphere in which the guests visiting the kindergarten had the opportunity to hear from the educators how the cluster center functions within the model of horizontal exchange and learning “Joint learning by modeling”, how practitioners from one kindergarten learn with practitioners from another kindergarten-cluster center through direct experience and modeling in the context of practice. During the tour of the working rooms of the kindergarten, the guests were able to hear and see from the children how they study and research, which spaces they use, what they do during the summer months, and also to play the board game “Uno” with the preschoolers.

Guests had the opportunity to ask questions, but also to see how an environment is created in which children can explore by manipulating different materials, in which children can ask questions, in which they learn from each other and together with adults (teachers, parents), they learn through experience, in situations that make sense for them.

The guests expressed great satisfaction and gratitude, emphasizing that everything they saw and heard was very significant and could be useful for improving the quality of preschool education in the Republic of North Macedonia.

You can see the photos here.

In the Ministry of Education, Contracts on financing and construction of a new kindergarten in Petrovac na Mlava were solemnly signed today. The contracts were signed by d.c. Minister of Education Djordje Milicevic, President of the municipality Dusko Nedinic, and the contractor.

“Investing in the construction of preschool institutions and increasing the coverage of children through preschool upbringing and education is a priority and strategic commitment of the Ministry of Education. Supporting the development and upbringing of children from the earliest age is very important for a happy childhood and is the foundation for their further education and their future. That is precisely why we are working very dedicatedly on this through the project “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care”. With the construction of this kindergarten, 200 new places will be provided,” said the d.c. Minister of Education Djordje Milicevic.

The Ministry of Education allocated over 184 million dinars for the construction of a new facility in Petrovac na Mlavi, with an area of ​​over 1,350 square meters.

The planned completion of the works on the construction of the new facility is 12 months from the start of the works.

“We are extremely happy and grateful for this investment, which is of immeasurable importance for the present, but also the future of Petrovac na Mlavi. We owe a great deal of gratitude to the Ministry of Education, with whom we fight side by side to improve the conditions for our youngest and most important fellow citizens, because without a healthy and safe upbringing and adequate education, there is no future for the municipality of Petrovac na Mlava, and neither is our country. By implementing this project, we will solve the decade-long problem of waiting lists for enrolling children in preschool,” said the president of the municipality of Petrovac na Mlavi, Dusko Nedinic.

The Ministry of Education, as part of the Inclusive Preschool Education and Care project, with the support of the World Bank and in cooperation with local governments, builds new and expands existing kindergartens and adapts and repurposes buildings. This ensures about 11,000 new places for children in kindergartens. In addition to expanding capacity and increasing coverage, this Project also pays special attention to the improvement of preschool education and care through the introduction of the New Basics of the program, as well as the knowledge and skills of professional staff through mentoring support and training for about 12,000 educators. An important aspect of the Project is communication and support for families with small children, especially families from vulnerable social groups.