Minister Branko Ruzic visited the kindergarten “Mali princ”, which is part of preschool institution “Bosko Buha” in Palilula. The visit was organized within Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care project, which the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia is implementing with the financial support of the World Bank.

Through socializing and talking with children, the Minister drew attention to the key messages of the Project that relate to the importance of preschool education and acceptance of diversity in order to support the inclusiveness of the system. In a playful atmosphere, in the yard of the kindergarten, the minister and the children created a joint panel on which they their handprints in different colours. The visit ended with the presentation of gift, an interactive board, to the kindergarten.

The project of inclusive preschool education is extremely important for the community, since it aims to improve the accessibility, quality and fairness of preschool education. This primarily means increasing the coverage and accessibility of preschool institutions, where all children from birth to 6.5 years of age will benefit, as well as their families, preschool institutions and local communities (local self-government units, health services, social work centres, etc.). The priority are children from socially and economically vulnerable social groups.

See photos from the event here.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the Novak Djokovic Foundation signed an Agreement on Partnership Cooperation on the Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care project.

The cooperation means that the Ministry and the Foundation will join the capacities in the next two years and together adapt and equip the rooms in public facilities, which will be intended for the realization of preschool education.

“Setting up a good foundation of education from the earliest age is important, not only for the socialization of children, but also for their further successful schooling. The Novak Djokovic Foundation has been implementing its own programs for years now, which are aimed at better conditions for the realization of preschool education. In this case, we will use their knowledge and experience and unite to provide good conditions for an even larger number of children, especially from socially and economically vulnerable social groups, to be included in the system of preschool education, “said the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Science and technological development Branko Ruzic.

The plan is to adapt and equip at least 100 rooms for the realization of preschool education in public facilities and existing preschool institutions by the end of 2022. The works will be financed from the Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Project, which is financed by the World Bank, while the Foundation will coordinate activities on renovation, conversion and adaptation of those spaces and equipping them with furniture and didactic material.

“Guided by the desire to provide our youngest generations with a stimulating environment to play and learn in order to develop their full potential, our team has so far reconstructed, equipped and helped 45 kindergartens throughout Serbia. This way, we have encouraged the development of local communities themselves, which in the long run contributes to a better future for all of us. However, the numbers show that there is still a long way to go to ensure that every child in Serbia has access to preschool education. That is why we are very glad that, thanks to our many years of experience, we have gained the trust of the Ministry to help them on that path and we are sure that with the partnership with the World Bank the project will be successfully realized, “said Maja Kremic, National Director of the Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Within this cooperation, the Foundation will implement a program of support for parents and guardians of children under the age of 6 in all municipalities where there will be a renovation and adapted space for educational work.

Cooperation with the Foundation will additionally support the efforts of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development to improve the system of preschool education and to carry out the educational process in even better conditions.

In the first year of cooperation, works are planned in 20 local governments: Doljevac, Vlasotince, Vladicin Han, Varvarin, Trstenik, Brus, Kraljevo, CaCak, Obrenovac, Stari Grad, Jagodina, Batocina, Svilajnac, Raca, Velika Plana, Bac, Apatin , Sid, Nova Varos, Cajetina.

The Red Cross is one of the partners in the project “Inclusive preschool education” which is realized by PI “Poletarac” Odzaci.

During this week, within the project, Red Cross Odzaci were realized 4 educational workshops called “Diffusion – we are learning about humanity” in PI “Poletarac”. The goal of these workshops is for children to get acquainted with the largest humanitarian organization, to learn what humanity is, why they should be humane and how to spread kindness and love with humanity.

One workshop was held in the facilities “Duga” in Backi Brestovac and “Carolija” in Deronje on April 26 and 27, while in the facility “Maslacak” in Bogojevo on April 28, 2021, two workshops were held.

The workshops are designed as joint activities of children who attend four-hour and short programs. The workshops were attended by 73 children, 4 educators and a pedagogical assistant.

Within the workshops, packages for personal hygiene were distributed to children from socially vulnerable groups. Funds for the purchase of these packages were provided by a grant the institution received within the project.

In the first half of April, another online training was held for the directors of preschool institutions to take the license exams. The content of the interactive, online training for directors is based on 16 topics within the four areas of competence of directors of institutions. Also, the program relies on the knowledge of participants in the field of education and care, cooperation with parents, understanding of inclusive policies and acceptance of inclusive values, as well as their experiences in applying inclusive practices.

Based on the evaluations of the participants, the topic that stood out as particularly important is “Leadership and change management in the context of preschool”. The reform of the educational system implies a series of systemic and functional changes, which are reflected in the management of institutions and the roles taken over by the directors of institutions. In this context, it is expected that directors, in addition to adequate education, must possess the ability to manage the institution and leadership skills. Basic competencies of management and organization include communication, planning, leadership, decision making. Leadership in management implies a high level of efficiency, flexibility, as well as pronounced social skills. Each of these segments was the subject of work on trainings so that after them the directors were trained for contextual analysis of the situation in institutions in order to plan changes. With the help of the digital tool Padlet, participants had the opportunity to express their opinion on the training.

In order to strengthen preschool institutions and principals as leaders and initiators of change, support in the form of training for initiating and leading change is planned by the end of this year, and it will be attended by about 1,300 principals and professional associates from all public primary schools.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development is improving the quality of the preschool system through Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Project. What activities are carried out?

In order to increase the availability of quality preschool education, we focused on building, adapting and equipping kindergartens and providing professional support to employees for the implementation of the new Preschool Curriculum Framework.

 In which municipalities are the capacities of preschool institutions expanding?

Works in Doljevac, Zitoradja and Sremska Mitrovica have been completed. In the upcoming period, we will continue the construction of facilities in Krusevac, Loznica and Merosina, with funds over 250 million dinars.

Tell us a bit more about improving the competencies of employees in the system of preschool education.

Through the Project, we realize trainings for employees in preschool institutions for the application of the new program concept “Godine uzleta”, for the use of digital technologies and for self-evaluation. By the end of the Project, it is planned that the trainings will include 12,000 educators and professional associates.

How do local governments participate in the Project?

The ministry provided 1.8m euros in financial support to 34 local governments. Thanks to intersectional cooperation of different services at the level of local self-government, such as preschools, health centers, centers for social work in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, we realized a large number of creative programs for parents and children, equipped rooms, purchased mini buses for transporting children from remote settlements. In this way, 2,500 children are included in the preschool education program for the first time. Despite significant improvements, it is necessary to continue activities to improve the inclusive practice of institutions and inform families about different types of support in the local community.