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Serbia’s educational process is under constant modernisation, which is testified to by the series of reforms that are being implemented by the Ministry of Education with the intention of providing school pupils and university students with high-quality educational content that’s aligned with the needs of the labour market. At the same time, this education is inclusive, as evidenced by the increasing participation of children from vulnerable groups in the educational process, says Serbian Education Minister Branko Ružić.

There are 850,000 people in Serbia who haven’t completed primary school, while every fifth citizen lacks a high school diploma. In a situation that sees Serbia increasingly lacking a trained workforce, how can these people be included in the educational process, and subsequently in the labour market?

There is an existing system of schools, institutions, including more than 450 of them nationwide across Serbia, where adults can also be educated and can, through lifelong learning, acquire the competencies and qualifications required for their personal and professional development, work and employment.

People aged over 17 can complete primary and secondary school in accordance with special programmes for adults, with a range of pro- grammes available for additional qualification and retraining, and no costs are applicable for those acquiring primary education and their first profession. Considering how important it is for any adult completing primary school to also acquire some qualification and skill, a new programme has been introduced that enables people aged over 15 to complete primary school over the course of three years and to also, in parallel with their completion of the third cycle (7th and 8th grade), attend a training programme for an occupational profile required by the labour market.

A novelty was introduced as of 2021 with the establishing of a system that recognises previous learning. Through this procedure, knowledge and skills that have been acquired through various training courses, life experience and work practise are recognised, evaluated and acknowledged, with the issuance of either a confirmation notice showing the acquired competences or a certificate confirming the qualification acquired. During the 2019 to 2021 period, almost 36,000 mature students traversed the adult education system, completing primary or secondary school and obtaining a qualification. Given that the adult education system is advancing and new opportunities are being created for lifelong learning, I believe the statistics from the latest census will also highlight these positive trends.