Chapter 26: Education and culture The areas of education and training, youth and culture are primarily the competence of the Member States. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that the Union shall encourage cooperation between Member States and support and supplement their actions, while fully respecting their responsibility for the content of teaching, organisation of education and vocational training systems, and their national and regional cultural diversity. In the field of education, training and youth, besides a Directive on education of the children of migrant workers and the judgments of the European Court of Justice on cases related to non-discrimination between nationals of an EU Member State and other EU nationals, the acquis consist of mainly a cooperation framework. In the light of the Lisbon Strategy, open methods of coordination on education and training policies and on youth policies have been established with a view to the convergence of national policies and the attainment of shared objectives. The concrete future objectives of education and training systems endorsed in 2001, as well as the Copenhagen process for vocational training and the Bologna process for higher education, are providing directions for the improvement and development of the quality of education and training systems. This resulted in the work programme ‘Education and Training 2010’, and the strategic framework "Education and Training 2020", which integrates all actions in the fields of education and training at European level. Common objectives have also been agreed for the EU youth policies and a new EU Youth Strategy, based on a reinforced open method of coordination, was adopted for the period 2010-20181. This strategy builds on the need to have a strong cross-sectoral approach. In addition, Member States need to have the legal, administrative and financial framework as well as the necessary implementing capacity in place to ensure sound management, including financial management of all decentralised education, training and youth EU programmes (currently the Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action Programmes). As regards cultural policy, Member States need to uphold the principles enshrined in Article 167 of the TFEU and, in particular, ensure that their international commitments allow for the development and implementation of policies and instruments aiming at preserving and promoting cultural diversity. In accordance with these principles, the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, ratified by the EC, is a major element of the acquis in the field of culture. The Commission Communication on a European Agenda for culture in a globalizing world, endorsed in 2007 in a Council Resolution and conclusions of the European Council, introduced new cooperation methods, including a structured dialogue with the cultural sector, and a more structured system of cooperation between the Member States and the EU institutions (open method of coordination), in order to implement three common sets of objectives: cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue; culture as a catalyst for creativity; and culture as a key component in international relations. Five priority areas, articulated around the three objectives of the Agenda, were set by the Council for a first work plan for culture 2008-2010. 1 Council resolution of 27 November 2009 based on Commission Communication "An EU Strategy for Youth – Investing and Empowering. A renewed open method of coordination to address youth challenges and opportunities", COM (2009) 200, 27.04.09 1 I. EDUCATION, TRAINING AND YOUTH Cooperation in the field of policies The following questions are directed at all levels of education. A. Educational system 1. Structure of the educational system: Please describe the structure of the educational system, including vocational education and training (VET) and adult education, following the Eurydice format (http://www.eurydice.org). Give details of the different levels of education, whether compulsory and/or free of charge, and the mechanisms for transition between them. Please describe the role of private education and VET providers and of enterprises in VET provision. Educational system in Serbia includes preschool, primary, secondary and higher education. Its basic structure, characteristics and mechanisms of transition from level to level are regulated by the Law on the Foundations of Education System ("Official Gazette of RS" No. 72/09), Law on Preschool Education ("Official Gazette of RS" No. 18/10), Law on Primary School("Official Gazette of RS" no. 50/92, 53/93, 67/93, 48/94, 66/94, 22/02, 79/05, 101/05, 72 / 09), Law on Secondary School ("Official Gazette of RS" no. 50/92, 24/96, 53/93, 67/93, 48/94, 23/02, 25/02, 101/05, 72/09) and Law on Higher Education ("Official Gazette of RS" no. 76/05,100/07, 97/08, 44/10). Scheme of the structure of education system in Serbia is given in the annex to this question (part: “EDUCATION"). Preschool education Preschool education is part of education system and the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and local self-government. This level of education encompasses children aged from six months to primary school age. The founder of the preschool institutions (kindergartens) may be the Republic of Serbia, autonomous province and municipality/city. These institutions may also be established by citizens and other institutions. Attending preschool education is not compulsory. The work of kindergartens is financed partly from local revenues, and partly from parental income. Starting from the school year 2006/07 Serbia introduced a compulsory preparatory preschool programme for all children aged from 5.5 to 6.5 years. In 2009 its duration was extended from 6 to 9 months. The preparatory preschool programme is free of charge, if realised by the state (public) kindergarten or school. Local self-government keeps records of children who are of age to preparatory preschool programmes. In Serbia there are 159 state preschool institutions deployed in 2 364 facilities, and 57 private institutions. In settlements where there are no kindergartens, the preparatory preschool programme is implemented in primary schools. In facilities of primary schools 189 kindergartens are accommodated. Total percentage of coverage of children of all ages is increasing (according to the Ministry of Education data in 2002 - 32%, and 2009 - 47.37%). Coverage of children Coverage of children with preparatory School Year with preschool preschool education programme 2 2006/2007 173 203 64 048 (84,20%) 2007/2008 178 389 69 728 (88, 85%) 2008/2009 183 651 71 444 (91,80%) 2009/2010 190 266 69 378 (87, 82%) Table 1. Coverage of children with preschool education (all ages) and coverage of children with preparatory preschool programme2 Children with disabilities are included in the preschool educational system, in regular and special (development) groups, and the right to education is also provided to children at hospital treatment. Members of national minorities realise their right to education in their native language, bilingually, or in Serbian language. The data indicate that in the 2009/2010 school year the preparatory preschool programme included 3 456 children of Roma nationality. In 2009/2010, 5 455 children belonging to ethnic minorities attended a preparatory school programme in their native language or bilingually. Serbian Hungarian Slovakian Ruthenian Romanian Albanian Bulgarian Croatian Bilingual No. of 15 158 201 42 3 15 4 70 4 76 groups No. of 159 218 3 099 862 53 256 17 1 126 42 947 children Table 2. The number of educational groups in Serbian language, minority languages, and the number of children attending educational activities in these languages3 Preschools implement regular programmes of educational, and other specific and specialized programmes can be also implemented, in accordance with the needs and interests of children, parents and capacities of the kindergarten and the local self-government. In addition, the kindergarten may use curricula of other countries. Primary education Primary education is compulsory, takes eight years and is carried out in two educational cycles. The first cycle covers the first four grades. Teaching of all subjects in this stage is performed by class teachers, but the teaching of some subjects, for example arts and foreign languages, may be performed by subject teachers who teach these subjects in the second cycle. The Second cycle covers 5th to 8th grades, and teaching of each subject is performed by subject teachers. In the first grade of primary school every child is admitted who before the start of the school year is at least 6.5 and a maximum 7.5 years old, with the certificate of preschool 2 Data from the Republic Statistical Office 3 Data of the Ministry of Education 3 programme attendance. Even younger children, aged from 6 to 6.5 years, may attend first grade, after evaluation of the school readiness. Besides, the school can admit a child older than 7.5 years, who due to illness or other reasons was not admitted at the prescribed age, in first grade, but also into any appropriate grade, based on results of a knowledge test administered by the school. Children are admitted in school on a territorial basis. There is an option that the parent can choose a school from another school district, which is conditional on free spaces in the selected school. Local self-governments keep records of children who are of age to admission, as well as of admitted children. The success of primary school pupils is evaluated during the school year and in the end, when pupils receive final marks. First grade pupils are evaluated with descriptive marks and can not repeat the grade. Pupils of other grades are evaluated descriptively and numerically, and the final mark is numeric. Pupils of the second and third grade can not repeat the grade unless required by a parent, but are translated into next grade, based on the decision of the class council, and in these cases the teaching in the next grade will be organized based on Individual Education Plan (IEP).