SANU Board: Education law amendments fall short of Serbia’s needs

“Instead of measures focused on improving quality and modernization, the draft curtails the rights and involvement of students, parents, and teachers while strengthening mechanisms of administrative control,” the Board stated.

According to the Board, specific points of concern include new restrictions on student organizing and the work of student parliaments, the diminished role of parent councils, and the potential for revoking teachers’ licenses.

“At the same time, the draft fails to address key challenges in education: insufficient quality and learning outcomes, the decline of the teaching profession, the need for modernization in the age of digitalization and AI, the development of extracurricular activities, and the systematic evaluation of educational results,” they noted.

The Board argues that minor corrections to the draft are insufficient and recommends its withdrawal from the legislative process in favor of a new bill based on expert analysis and a broad public debate regarding the type of education Serbia will need in the coming decades.