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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Participation in ICCS study important for further reforms of education system

Belgrade, 28 November 2023

The government announced that Serbia has become one of the 24 countries in the world that joined the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), in order to obtain usable guidelines for further reforms of the education system.

The ICCS is an international survey that examines students' knowledge and attitudes regarding civic responsibilities and active participation in society, and comprehensive surveys are conducted every six years.

In this research in 2022, the tests were done by students of the sampled eighth grade classes, i.e., students who are 14 years old, and the goal is to improve the overall quality of education.

Out of 24 countries in this research cycle, Serbia is among only 13 countries where civic education is taught as a separate subject, but in almost all countries it is integrated into subjects related to social sciences – in all subjects or through common teaching activities.

Recognising the importance of the social topics covered in this research, Serbia has already initiated a number of measures that are expected to improve the participation of young people in society.

The draft of the new law on volunteering envisages the establishment of a national platform for volunteering, and changes to the General Standards of Achievement - educational standards at the end of primary and secondary school have also been initiated.

After the adoption of the new standards of achievement in the next month, the opportunity will be created for significant improvements within the teaching and learning programme, and for this the results of such research are extremely important to us.