Outcomes of the UN supported Consultations on Transforming Education in Serbia, presented at the Palace of Serbia

The consultations aimed to formulate the main priorities and future commitments in the education system in Serbia, to be presented during the Transforming Education Summit convened in New York by the UN Secretary-General next September.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is still not over, globally and locally it is already time to take decisive actions to prevent further learning disruptions and the deepening of inequalities regarding access to education.

At her opening speech, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Serbia, Mrs Françoise Jacob, noted: “In the realization of the national consultations, ahead of the Transforming Education Summit, I am very thankful to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development for taking the lead role in the realization of the national consultations on transforming education. Let’s seize the moment and mobilize the action, ambition, solidarity and solutions needed to achieve SDG4 and transform education in Serbia between now and 2030.”

National consultations in Serbia serve as an opportunity to take stock of the efforts being undertaken to ensure equal and quality education. Furthermore, they provide a place to reimagine education to be resilient to future shocks and transformative to fit the needs of all children and youth.

“The aim of these consultations was to assess and formulate main priorities and perspectives of our education system. Report on national consultations in Serbia as well as Statement of commitment for transforming education are submitted to the TES Secretariat and will be presented at this occasion”, said in her address State Secretary Anamarija Viček, noting that the report presented outlines the opinion, vision and commitment of a wide range of key stakeholders in the education sector from government authorities, to formal and informal educational practitioners and parents.

In a view of supporting a country-tailored consultation process, UN Secretary-General António Guterres encouraged UNESCO and UNICEF, separate UN agencies both with mandates in education, to accompany governments and engage stakeholders through the national consultation work stream: “It was a great honor to support the consultations process in Serbia on such an important and generational topic as transformation of education. We are also deeply proud that the process was inclusive, bringing forward the perspectives of the most imminent educational actors: government authorities, academia, teachers, parents and students who were at the forefront of the ‘educational battle’ to curb the effects of COVID-19 to education and worked relentlessly to ensure that education never stops”, said Siniša Šešum, Head of UNESCO Antenna in Sarajevo.

As the voice of youth will be in focus during the Summit, 940 young people from across Serbia participated in June 2022 in online and offline consultations to express their views, expectations from transforming education, as well as to join efforts with young people worldwide to reimagine education by 2030.

“For children, education quality and relevance matter. They want their voices to be heard. And to matter! We should seize the momentum created by the upcoming Transforming Education Summit to drive concrete actions addressing the needs of children and youth”, concluded Mrs Deyana Kostadinova, UNICEF Representative in Serbia.

From April to June, the consultation process gathered recommendations from 1,143 persons to identify priority areas and formulate recommendations for achieving quality, equal, healthy and sustainable education from all children and youth by 2030.

Watch full video at the link.