Training
In Serbia, children start school at the age
of seven. After the eight-year elementary school,
students can choose between a four-year high school,
which gives admission to higher studies, and any
vocational school or technical education.
The compulsory schooling includes one year in
preschool in addition to the eight compulsory school
years. Voluntary preschool is offered to children from
six months of age. The compulsory school consists of two
four-year stages.
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COUNTRYAAH:
Country facts of Serbia, including geography profile, population statistics, and business data.
The vast majority go to state schools and all
tuition, even at the college level, is free of charge,
although students are often paid for school books. The
private alternatives that exist do not receive public
funds and are chargeable.
There are eight state universities, with Belgrade
being the largest and oldest. In addition, there are
also a number of private universities and colleges. The
quality of higher education dropped during the 1990s in
the wake of the wars. Serbia is still affected by this,
but a cautious reform of both primary and higher
education is underway, partly financed by EU funds, and
school premises and more are being refurbished. However,
it all goes a long way in the pace and extent that would
be needed.
- Educationvv: Provides school and education information in Serbia, covering middle school, high school and college education.
FACTS - EDUCATION
Proportion of children starting primary
school
95.2 percent (2017)
Number of pupils per teacher in primary
school
14 (2017)
Reading and writing skills
98.8 percent (2016)
Public expenditure on education as a
percentage of GDP
9.0 percent (2016)
Public expenditure on education as a
percentage of the state budget
9.0 percent (2016)
2016
December
Russian weapons are bought
December 21
On a visit to Moscow, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and the Russian Defense
Minister sign an agreement on arms deliveries from Russia. Among other things,
Serbia will receive six MIG-29 fighter aircraft and other military equipment.
The opposition believes that the plan is old-fashioned and requires upgrading,
but the government claims that the settlement will be cheap and that Serbian
pilots are used to the Russian plans.
November
Low-wage protest
November 27th
To mark the low wages of younger officers and soldiers, Serbia's military
trade union is conducting a street demonstration in Belgrade, the first of its
kind. According to the union, more than three-quarters of the employees in the
army earn less than the average salary of around 420 euros.
October
Coat of arms near the Prime Minister's residence
October 29th
The Interior Minister announces that Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić has been
kept safe after discovering a large cache of weapons (hand grenades, bazookas
and large quantities of machine and sniper rifle ammunition) in the woods near
his home.
August
Co-operation with Republika Srpska
August 28th
About 200 police officers from special forces from Serbia and the Republic of
Srpska hold a joint anti-terrorist exercise on the Serbian side of the Drina
border, opposite the Bosnian city of Zvornik. The exercise does not involve any
police or security personnel from the Bosnian-Croatian Federation or from the
state level, which helps to raise concerns about cohesion in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
Continued tensions between Serbia and Croatia
August 25th
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, at the last moment, refuses to attend a
ministerial meeting in Dubrovnik (Dubrovnik Business Forum) even though many
believe it would have been a good opportunity to try to dissolve the ties
between neighboring countries. When Vučić a few days later invites the
diplomatic corps and the heads of foreign missions and institutions in Serbia to
talks about the security policy situation in the Balkans, the Croatian
ambassador is not present.
Serbian military exercises
22 August
The Serbian Ministry of Defense announces that Serbian troops will
participate in a multinational military exercise under NATO called "Combined
Resolve VII". The exercise, held in Germany from August 27 to September 15, is
organized by the United States. In September and October, Serbia will also host
Russian troops in two joint exercises: "Slavic Brotherhood 2016" and "BARS
2016".
Serbian-Croat disagreement
August 15th
The Croatian interior minister Vlaho Orepić dilutes the deteriorating
relations between Croatia and Serbia by claiming that there are probably not
enough ethnic Serbs in the eastern Croatian city of Vukovar that these may
require bilingual signs and the right to use Serbs at public institutions, etc.,
something like leads to sharp reactions in Belgrade. According to the law,
localities with a certain minority of more than 30 percent are obliged to use
this language as an official language. According to the latest census (2011), 34
percent of Serbs are in Vukovar.
New government ready
9th of August
Three and a half months after the new election on April 24, Prime Minister
Aleksandar Vučić finally presents his proposal for a new government to
Parliament. Many ministers are replaced, but SPS leader Ivica Dačić is proposed
to retain the post of First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
July
Car factory is closed
July 21st
The legendary car factory Zastava in the city of Kragujevac closes for good.
Guantánamo prisoners to Serbia
July 19
In an attempt to balance its policy between the West and Russia, Serbia
agrees to receive two prisoners, from Yemen and Tajikistan respectively, who
will be released from the Guantánamo base in Cuba. The intention is that the two
should be integrated into Serbian society. The decision is made in connection
with a visit by Deputy US Secretary of State Victoria Nuland in Belgrade.
Increased border control
July 17
Serbia decides to establish a joint police and army force to patrol the
border with Bulgaria and Macedonia with the task of stopping illegal migrants
from entering the country. Hungary's decision in early July to strengthen border
security against Serbia and send back migrants, most of them from Pakistan and
Afghanistan, has resulted in around 3,000 refugees wanting to join the EU in
Serbia.
June
Protesting journalists are fired
June 30th
Five journalists who signed during a protest against the redundancies on the
state radio and TV in Vojvodina in May are themselves dismissed.
Reduced number of civil servants
June 22
After the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completes its fourth review of
its agreement with Serbia, the government declares that an additional 7,000
public servants will be removed in 2016.
Agreement with Croatia
June 20
After first meeting on a border bridge between Croatia and Serbia, Croatian
President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić
continue to the city of Subotica in northern Serbia, where they sign a six-point
agreement on better relations between the countries. This has been quite shaky
in recent years, not least since Croatia, as a member of the EU, set the bar for
Serbia to open Chapter 23 in its membership negotiations with the EU, which
deals, among other things, with the treatment of minorities and cooperation with
the War Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. In the agreement, the two leaders
declare that they want to put all disagreements behind them and with the
agreement Serbia can now continue its negotiations with the EU.
Chinese state visit
17th of June
Chinese President Xi Jinping initiates a three-day visit to Serbia. During
the visit, a total of 22 different cooperation agreements are signed in areas
such as construction and infrastructure, telecommunications, trade, defense and
media.
May
Vučić visits Putin
May 26
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić makes an unannounced visit to Moscow. There
are strong feelings when Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting between
them lets him understand that he would like to see that the new Serbian
government will contain a greater number of Russian-friendly (such as SPS leader
Ivica Dačić) than Western-friendly ministers.
Demonstrations against the Belgrade construction project
May 26
In protest of the planned construction project on the river Sava in Belgrade
(see April 25, 2016), around 9,000 people march to the city
hall. It is one of several demonstrations against the government-supported
project organized by the group Let's not drown Belgrade.
Demonstrations in Vojvodina
May 23
In Novi Sad, a protest demonstration is held that several journalists at the
state radio and TV in Vojvodina were dismissed a few weeks after the ruling
party SNS after the April elections took power in the provincial parliament in
Vojvodina. Journalists' associations believe that the dismissals are political,
which Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić denies.
April
Nightly house demolitions in Belgrade
April 25
On election night, masked men without warning start to demolish housing and
office buildings in Savamala, a worn-out part of the capital next to the Sava
River where a controversial new commercial center and luxury housing is planned
together with a consortium from the United Arab Emirates, which is investing
three billion dollars in the project. Residents call the police, who do not show
up.
Vučić remains on the roll of victory
April 24
As expected, the Serbian Progress Party (SNS) stands as the winner with just
over 48 percent of the vote (131 of 250 seats in Parliament and thus its own
majority), while a list under the so-called Coalition Partner Serbia's Socialist
Party (SPS) gets almost 11 percent (29 seats). The newly acquitted Vojislav
Šešelj's party SRS comes in third place with just over eight percent of the
votes (22 seats). Also a coalition led by the Democratic Party (DS) can pass the
five percent block (just over six percent and 16 seats), as well as the
pro-European, liberal opposition movement Now it Sucks (Dosta je bilo; just over
six percent and 16 seats), as well as a coalition between the pro-European SDS /
LDP / LSV under former Serbian President Boris Tadić (just over five percent, 13
seats); as many percent and places get the pro-Russian, the right-wing
nationalist coalition between the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and Dveri. In
addition, four parties representing different minorities are given seats in
parliament. The turnout is just over 56 percent. At the same time as the
parliamentary elections, local elections and elections to the provincial
parliament in Vojvodina are held, where the DS so far is allowed to hand over
power to the SNS. Also in Kosovo, where the Serbs were allowed to vote, SNS won
by about 2/3 of the votes cast.
Chinese company buys Serbian steel mill
April 15
HBIS, the largest steel producer in China and the world's third largest, buys
the Serbian steel plant Železara Smederevo, for EUR 46 million. The Chinese plan
to invest EUR 300 million in the steel mill, which means that all just over
5,000 employees are allowed to keep their jobs. The steel plant was sold in 2003
to US Steel for $ 23 million but was bought back by Serbia in 2012 for one
dollar (see also Finance).
March
Nationalist leader acquitted by UN tribunal
March 31st
The UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague acquits Serbian nationalist
politician Vojislav Šešelj on all nine charges, including war crimes and crimes
against humanity during the war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. According to the
court, the evidence of the prosecutor is insufficient. Šešelj, who is the leader
of the right-wing populist Radical Party, has constantly declared himself
innocent of the charges, which also included attempts to create a Greater Serbia
at the expense of other peoples. He volunteered for the Hague in 2003 but was
allowed to travel to Serbia in late 2014 for cancer treatment.
Royal visit
March 16
British successor Charles and his wife Camilla come to Serbia as part of an
official tour of the Balkans. The purpose of the visit is to promote peace and
reconciliation in the region.
The Balkan route is closed
March 9
After the EU and Turkey reached a draft agreement on the refugee issue and
Slovenia closed its borders to anyone except those who have valid travel
documents, seek international protection or have humanitarian reasons, Serbia is
following along with Croatia and Macedonia. This means that the so-called Balkan
route for migrants is closed, and thousands of refugees are at risk of being
trapped in Greece or forced to seek alternative, more dangerous routes into
Europe.
February
No opposition alliance
February 1st
The former ruling party DS announces that attempts to form a alliance with
the Liberal Democratic LDP and the Social Democratic SDS, both outbreaks of the
DS, have failed. Opinion polls ahead of the elections, which are expected to be
held at the end of April, point to a new victory for the ruling SNS.
January
Kosovo talks continue
January 28
In Brussels, EU-led talks between Serbia and Kosovo resume on a normalization
of relations. In addition to a follow-up of agreements already made, much time
is spent discussing how to implement the decision on self-government for the
Serb-dominated municipalities in northern Kosovo. In addition, it will be agreed
to start discussions on direct train and air links between Serbia and Kosovo.
The talks, where the countries are represented by their Prime Ministers,
Serbia's Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo's Isa Mustafa, are led by EU Foreign
Minister Federica Mogherini and are in good spirits.
New elections are expected
January 17
Prime Minister Vučić announces that new elections will be held, pointing out
that the country needs four years of stability to prepare for EU membership.
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