Within the framework of component 2 of the “Inclusive preschool education and Care” project, subcomponent 2.3 – Improvement of the quality evaluation system of preschool Education and Care, the Ministry of Education (MOE) with the support of the World Bank, implements the project task related to the improvement of the process of self-evaluation in preschool institutions.

The goal of the activities within this project task is to improve the process and practice of self-evaluation through the development and application of various techniques and instruments for monitoring and evaluating the quality of work of preschool institutions (PU) and strengthening the competencies of practitioners who are recognized as key actors in the process of changing practice in accordance with the starting points program concepts of preschool education and care (PEC).

Self-evaluation of quality within a preschool institution is a process initiated and implemented by preschool institutions, with the aim of improving the work of employees, further developing the institution, and providing support for the well-being of children and families. Self-evaluation supports the institution’s autonomy and develops employees’ capacities for continuous critical review of existing practice while respecting the specific context of the institution as well as taking responsibility for the quality of work.

To this end, support is provided to preschool institutions, which includes: resources for self-evaluation of the work of preschool institutions (proposed instruments (checklists for self-evaluation team members, questionnaires for educators and nurses, focus groups/interviews with educators, parents, professional associates, director, proposal of questions for consultation with children); one-day training for self-evaluation teams of public PUs (during June and during September); mentoring support for self-evaluation teams of all public preschool institutions throughout the entire cycle of self-evaluation during the working year 2022/2023; free use of the application for questionnaires MS Forms.

As part of the support of PU, a guide was prepared and distributed Self-evaluation in preschool institutions – Guide for employees in preschool institutions.

The guide was created as an expression of the need to support preschool institutions in the process of self-evaluation after the revision of the quality framework.

The Center for European Policies (CEP) was engaged to implement this project task, which was defined in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Institute for the Evaluation of the Quality of Education and Training (ZVKOV).

The authors of the guide are: Jelena Najdanovic Tomic, Jasmina Vuletic, Aleksandra Kalezic Vignjevic, and Sasa Glamocak, and the publishers are the Ministry of Education and the Institute for Evaluation of the Quality of Education.

The guide was printed in a circulation of 10,600 copies and distributed to all public preschool institutions in order to make it available to educators, i.e. most educational groups, all professional associates in the institution, as well as trainers/mentors from preschool institutions who provide support for the implementation of the program concept through the Project.

The guide was delivered to all school administrations, all faculties, secondary and higher schools that educate teachers, as well as teachers who implement the preparatory preschool program in the organization of primary schools.

All public and private preschools received the PDF version of the Guide, and you can download it from this link.

We are convinced that the Guide will be significant support for preschool institutions, that is, that it will provide practitioners with valuable professional support in self-evaluation of the quality of work of preschool institutions.

Minister of Education Branko Ruzic, Mayor of Novi Pazar Nihat Bisevac, and President of the Municipality of Petrovac na Mlava Dusko Nedinic signed today in the Government of the Republic of Serbia an Agreement on the construction of two new kindergartens, in Novi Pazar and Petrovac na Mlava.

“The strategic determination and goal of the Ministry of Education are to increase the coverage of children through preschool Education and Care. That’s why the Ministry of Education, with the support of the World Bank and the Inclusive Preschool Education Project, invests in the construction and extension of kindergartens, an adaptation of space, which provides 11,000 new places for children. The cooperation we establish with local self-governments is extremely important, and today cooperation agreements were signed with the mayor of Novi Pazar, Nihat Bisevac, and the president of the municipality of Petrovac na Mlava, Dusko Nedinic, by which we confirm our intention and undertake to work together on the construction of two more new kindergartens, with a total capacity of 470 places, 270 in Novi Pazar and 200 places in Petrovac na Mlavi. For the construction of these two kindergartens, the Ministry provided about 410 million dinars, and we can expect the first works in the spring,” said Minister Ruzic, adding that in the coming period, apart from Novi Pazar and Petrovac na Mlava, the construction of new buildings in Cicevac is also planned. , Leskovac, Cacak, Alibunar, Kragujevac, Arandjelovac, Prijepolje and Aleksandrovac.

He stated that so far the projects in Doljevac, Zitoraza, Sremska Mitrovica, Vladicin Han, and Loznica have been completed and 510 new places have been secured, while new facilities are under construction in Merosina, Prokuplje, Tutin, Sid, and Smederevo, as well as the addition of two facilities in Krusevac. The planned deadline for the completion of the works on these two buildings is one year from the start of the works.

The new kindergarten in Novi Pazar will cover about 1,900 square meters and will provide 270 new places for children who will be placed in 14 groups, and about 210 million dinars will be invested in it. The construction of a new building on the territory of the municipality of Petrovac na Mlava will provide 200 new places for children who will be placed in 10 groups, the building will cover about 1360 square meters, and about 200 million dinars have been allocated for it.

The Ministry of Education, with the financial support of the World Bank, is implementing the project “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care” within the framework of which the construction of kindergartens is being implemented. The implementation of the Project, whose value is 47 million euros, will ensure the expansion of the capacity in preschool institutions for 11,000 new places by building 23 facilities in 22 local governments, and by adapting and equipping 330 rooms in cooperation with the Novak Djokovic Foundation and through grant programs that are implemented in 34 local self-government units. This Project is also dedicated 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 sensitive social groups.

“Carolija” kindergarten in Vladicin Han was officially opened today in the presence of the Minister of Education Branko Ruzic and the president of the Municipality of Vladicin Han, Goran Mladenovic.

With the addition of two new rooms within the facility, the capacities of the Preschool “Pcelica” have been expanded, providing 40 new places for children. More than 23 million dinars were invested in the extension and equipment of the kindergarten, and the works were completed within the planned period, in just seven months.

“With the addition of two new rooms, we have further expanded the capacities in Vladicin Han and created the conditions for greater inclusion of children in preschool upbringing and education,” said Minister Branko Ruzic and added that in this way the Ministry of Education supports the local self-government of Vladicin Han, educators, and parents in providing good conditions for working with children and their upbringing.

During 2021, 3 and a half million dinars were set aside for the adaptation and furnishing of three rooms in the “Carolija” kindergarten, and the implementation was carried out by the Ministry of Education within the project “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care” with the support of the Novak Djokovic Foundation, while through the same project equipped and newly built kindergarten “Zvoncica” worth over 2 million dinars. In addition, through the grant programs of the Project, efforts are being made to include as many children as possible in the system of preschool Education and Care, especially children from socially sensitive groups, as well as hiring educators to work with children and educate them. So far, about two and a half million dinars have been invested in the implementation of the grant program in Vladicin Han, and an additional million and four hundred thousand dinars have been set aside for its continuation in 2023.

“Today is a special day, we got rid of the waiting list for enrollment in kindergarten, as we promised.” By expanding the facility of the “Carolija” kindergarten and putting into operation two more classrooms, we have created the conditions for kindergarten to become available to every child and for every child to receive equal conditions for preschool development,” said the president of the municipality of Vladicin, Han Goran Mladenovic.

The construction and adaptation of the kindergarten is part of the project “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care” implemented by the Ministry of Education with the financial support of the World Bank, which improves the availability, quality, and conditions of preschool Education and Care for all children. Through the project, 11,000 new places in kindergartens for children are provided through construction, extension, adaptation, and equipment.

The project, in addition to the above, supports the New Basics of the Preschool Education Program and strengthens the competencies of educators. During the previous year, all educators from PU “Pcelica”, in Vladicin Han, went through mentoring support and training in the application of the New Basics of the preschool education program. Through the implementation of the Project, emphasis is also placed on providing support to families with children, with a focus on families from sensitive social groups, encouraging the inclusion of children in the system of preschool upbringing and education, all with the aim of providing stimulating conditions for the development of all children.

You can see other photos here.

The conference “Support for Improving the Quality of preschool education and Care in the Republic of Serbia” was held on November 23, 2022, in Belgrade. The Minister of Education Branko Ruzic opened the conference, and on that occasion stated that preschool education is one of the topics that are the closest focus of the Ministry of Education and the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

“In order to support that system, the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the World Bank, is implementing the Inclusive Preschool Education project, which is the largest and most complex project at the national level dedicated to this area,” said Minister Ruzic.

The goal of that project, he said, is to provide a greater number of places for our youngest through the construction, expansion, and adaptation of existing preschool institutions.

Ruzic mentioned that the quality of preschool upbringing and education will be improved by providing professional support to preschool institutions in the implementation of the new program concept “Godine uzleta”.

The conference, during which two panels were held, was dedicated to the presentation of reform processes in the system of preschool upbringing and education, the exchange of practical experiences and knowledge, as well as the presentation of achieved results within the project “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care”, which the Ministry of Education is implementing in cooperation with the World Bank, all with the aim of further improving the preschool education system in Serbia.

Nikola Pontara, head of the World Bank office in Serbia, said: “There are clear indicators of the key role of early development in the development of human capital.” Attending educational institutions from an early age brings children long-term benefits and positively affects their ability to learn health and behavior. It also increases the chances of earning more in the future. Access to quality preschool education is also a powerful tool in the fight against declining learning ability and learning inequality. To ensure these advantages, a decisive commitment to early development is needed: that is why I am extremely glad to see that early development and the building of human capital are high on the list of priorities of the Government of Serbia.”

During the first panel entitled “Support of the Ministry of Education to the Improvement of the Quality of Preschool Education and Care”, Biljana Kojovic, coordinator of component 2 of the “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care” Project, which is basically dedicated to improving the quality of preschool Education and Care, addressed the attendees, as well as the Conference itself. Biljana Kojovic, together with the other interlocutors of this panel – prof. Dr. Zivka Krnjaj from the Institute of Pedagogy and Andragogy of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Vesna Kartal from UNICEF, and Jasmina Djelic, Head of the Department for Coordination of School Administrations – talked about the reform processes in the field of preschool Education and Care, presented the new Basics of the preschool program of education, which enabled the Ministry of Education to provide quality, continuous and, for the first time, systemic support to the PU in building quality practices.

During the second panel entitled “From practice to practice”, those present had the opportunity to learn more about the practical aspects of the implementation of the Program through the exchange of experiences and knowledge of professional associates, consultants, and directors of PU.

You can download the presentations from the Conference here.

You can see photos from the Gathering here.

The Conference was attended by more than 250 representatives of preschool education institutions – directors, educators, external collaborators, as well as representatives of the World Bank, local self-government, and others, while over 300 representatives, who were not able to attend in person, followed the conference via live stream on youtube channel.

As part of the “Inclusive Preschool Education” project implemented by the Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Novak Djokovic Foundation, three more classrooms in the territory of the municipality of Sid, the village of Erdevik, were adapted and equipped with a loan from the World Bank.

This municipality is characterized by disunity, as well as a multinational environment consisting of Serbs, Slovaks, Ruthenians, and others.

In the past period, after the return of families from abroad due to the coronavirus, the development of the wine industry, tourism, and agriculture led to the need to expand the capacity of the PU and the need for a full-day stay and space adaptation.

PU “Jelica Stanivukovic Silja” within the primary school “Sava Sumanovic” in Erdevik received the use of 3 study rooms for 3 educational groups (one older daycare, one mixed, and one preschool).

The Novak Djokovic Foundation, together with the Ministry of Education within the Inclusive Preschool Education project, recognized their need and adapted and fully equipped three study rooms.

Renovation works included the replacement of floors, walls, ceilings, joinery, and lighting, as well as the installation of air conditioning. The new, adapted rooms are fully adapted to the needs of children and educators and follow the new basics of the preschool education program.

In addition to the furniture that was selected and adapted to each age group, the rooms are equipped with new toys, carpets, lazy bags, easels for painting, books, and necessary consumables.

In this way, we have enabled the joint forces for a large number of families to remain in the countryside and for their children to have the same quality conditions for early education as in the cities.

In the new groups in the territory of the municipality of Sid, 65 new children aged from 1.5 to 7 years were enrolled and the premises were adapted and equipped in accordance with the needs of our youngest residents.

You can see other photos here.