CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF PRESCHOOL EDUCATION AND CARE IN SERBIA HAS BEEN HELD

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.