Better times for Serbia's education

Plagued for years by inadequate funding, Serbia's school system is receiving a boost in the form of a 100m-euro investment loan that will be implemented over the next four years. Currently, the country's annual investment in education is about 3% of GDP, the lowest in Europe.
As part of the project, dubbed Modernisation of Schools in Serbia, half the funds were secured from the European Investment Bank (EIB), while the other half will come from the local governments whose schools will receive the money. The investment project will take place in three stages -- all of them to be finalised by 2014, Education Minister Zarko Obradovic said.

"The first stage -- through 2012 -- will include the expansion or completion of construction of 12 [new] elementary and high schools. Existing schools lack accommodation capacity, [forcing classes to be] held in three shifts," Obradovic said. He said the second stage will boost IT in schools and a portion of funds will implement the National Education Strategy. The third stage will focus on the reconstruction of existing schools.
"We want to ensure the best possible education conditions for our students according to European standards. The economic progress of our country depends on it," Obradovic said.
He recalled that, with help from the EIB, Serbia finished the construction of eight new schools and reconstructed four existing ones in 2009.
The first stage of the Modernisation of Schools project involves the towns of Lapovo, Jagodina, Novi Pazar, Novi Sad, Aleksinac and Nis, as well as Belgrade.

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