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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Education reforms in Serbia’s national interest

Belgrade, 13 December 2005

Serbian Minister of Education and Sport Slobodan Vuksanovic said today that the large number of accumulated problems concerning the education of ethnic minorities in Serbia have been solved twice as fast with the help provided to the ministry by OSCE.

Vuksanovic (right) presents Massari with the icon "White Angel"

Speaking at a press conference, Vuksanovic said that there is no problem concerning ethnic minorities that has not been successfully resolved; he added that one of the problems solved is also the import of books for students of the Hungarian ethnic minority, apart from history textbooks.

He said that funds have been secured for founding a Teachers’ Faculty in Subotica, and also that at the Novi Sad University that issue should be technically resolved by the beginning of the new academic year.

Outgoing Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia-Montenegro Maurizio Massari said that the Ministry of Education and Sport has made significant progress in implementing reforms in education in Serbia, especially concerning the education programme for ethnic minorities.

Speaking at a press conference concerning results of cooperation between OSCE and the Ministry of Education and Sport, Massari said that Serbia faces a double challenge; to strengthen the drafted education system connected to ethnic minorities and correctly use the large potential presented by young people, the new generation, by creating an effectual policy that will offer them a possibility for a better life.

He said that the Serbian government faces huge challenges in all areas of reforms in education, and added that reforms in education in Serbia represent national interest and should be above political divisions.

Speaking on the concrete results of cooperation between the OSCE Mission and the Serbian Ministry of Education and Sport, Massari gave the example of the now possible import of books for ethnic-Albanian students, as well as work on the project of founding a Teachers’ Faculty in the Albanian language in the south of Serbia.

He said that the ongoing project of writing history textbooks for ethnic-Albanian students is also important, and added that the education of Roma people presents a big problem which cannot be solved overnight.