Education in Serbia is divided into preschool (predškolsko), primary school (osnovna škola), secondary school (srednja škola), and higher education levels. It is regulated by the Ministry of Education.
Historical preview Middle Ages The beginnings of education in Serbia date from 11th and 12th century with the establishment of schools at Roman Catholic monasteries in Titel and Bač, which were then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. People were also educated in Eastern Orthodox monasteries like Sopoćani, Studenica, and Patriarchate of Peć.
Early modern period After the fall of medieval Serbian state, among newly established schools were Slavic and Latin schools. In 1778, Serbian primary school Norma was established in Sombor. In 1791, Gymnasium of Karlovci, the oldest Serbian gymnasium, was established.
Modern era During the First Serbian Uprising, Belgrade Higher School was established in 1808. In 1838, in Kragujevac, Liceum of Serbian Principality was established. It was moved to Belgrade in 1841 and, in 1863, merged into the Belgrade Higher School (having three faculties: philosophy, engineering and law). Later, it became the University of Belgrade.
Public education in Serbia was vastly improved during the reigns of Miloš Obrenović and Alexander Karađorđević. From 1836 to 1855, the number of educational institutions rose from 72 elementary schools and 3 gymnasiums to 300 boys' elementary schools, 13 girls' elementary schools, a lyceum, a gymnasium, 3 high schools, a school of commerce, an artillery school, and an agricultural school. By 1857, all of these institutions were administered by the central government in Belgrade.
Contemporary period After World War II, more public universities were established, including University of Novi Sad (1960), University of Niš (1965), University of Pristina (1969), and University of Kragujevac (1976). In 2006, the State University of Novi Pazar was established.
Prior to 2005 and the implementation of the Bologna Process and comprehensive educational reform, Serbia implemented the system inherited from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. System ranked students by professional qualification (stručna sprema). Those who graduated only from primary school were qualified as unqualified workers (nekvalifikovani radnik), while those who graduated gymnasium were semi-qualified workers (polukvalifikovani radnik). Those with a professional high school degree had secondary professional qualification (srednja stručna sprema), those with a college ('higher school') degree had higher professional qualification (viša stručna sprema), while those with a university degree had high professional degree (visoka stručna sprema). Other than professional qualification ranking that indicated workers' ability to work, there also were degrees of professionality (stepen stručne spreme).
Education system Structure Age Grade/degree Educational establishments 6 0 Preschool(Predškolsko)Compulsory Education 6-7 1 Primary school(Osnovna škola)Compulsory Education 7-8 2 8-9 3 9-10 4 10-11 5 11-12 6 12-13 7 13-14 8 14-15 1 Gymnasium(Gimnazija)Four-year vocational school(Četvorogodišnja stručna škola) Three-year vocational school(Trogodišnja stručna škola) 15-16 2 16-17 3 17-18 4 18-19 Medical School (MD)(Medicinski fakultet)College(Viša škola) 19-20 20-21 Non-medical bachelor/College diploma (180 ECTS) 21-22 Non-medical Bachelor with honors
(240 ECTS) 22-23 Non-medical master 23-24 Doctor of Medicine 24-25 Medical residency(Specijalistički staž) 25-26 Non-medical PhD 26-27 27-28 Medical doctorate (MD-PhD)(Medicinski doktorat) Medical specialty (MD/Spec)(Medicinska specijalnost) 28-29 Specialist diploma 29-30 MD-PhD
Academic degrees Primary school certificate (Osnovnoškolsko svedočanstvo; after 8 years of primary school) → 8 years of education First professional degree (Trogodišnja stručna diploma; after 3 years of vocational school) → 11 (8+3) years of education First professional degree (Četvorogodišnja stručna diploma; after 4 years of vocational school) → 12 (8+4) years of education Gymnasium diploma (Gimnazijska diploma; after 4 years of gymnasium) → 12 (8+4) years of education Bachelor's degree (Diploma visoke škole; 180 ECTS, after 3 years of university studies → 15 (8+4+3) years of education. Bachelor degree with honors (Diploma fakulteta; 240 ECTS, after 4 years of university studies → 16 (8+4+4) years of education.Zakon o visokom obrazovanju Republike Srbije ; Law on Higher Education of the Republic of Serbia, Article 95. Professional master's degree (Specijalistički master; after 4 years of vocational university studies) → 16 (8+4+4) years of education Master's degree (Magistratura/master; after 5 years of university studies) → 17 (8+4+5) years of education Doctorate/PhD (Doktorat); after 3 years of doctoral studies) → 20 (8+4+5+3) years of education Doctor of Medicine (MD) (Doktor medicine; after 6 years of medical studies) → 18 (8+4+6) years of education Medical specialty (MD/Spec) (Medicinska specijalnost; after 5 years of medical specialization) → 23 (8+4+6+5) years of educationMedical and doctoral specializations in Serbia consist of 3 years of medical residency and 2 years of specialty studies or 3 years of doctoral studies. Medical doctorate (MD-PhD) (Doktorat medicinskih nauka; after 6 years of doctoral specialization) → 24 (8+4+6+6) years of education
Preschool education As of school year 2006–2007, preschool in duration of 6 months is compulsory and it is the first part of compulsory education. Attended at the age of 5 or 6 in the local kindergarten, it familiarizes students with the educational system.
Preschool education is attended from the beginning of the year (in the same year when the 1st grade starts). It lasts for at least 4 hours a day for at least 6 months. After it, students have to pass an exam of ability in order to attend primary school.
Primary education
Children enroll in primary schools at the age of seven (usually, all students in a class were born in the same year). However, it is possible for students to enroll at the primary school one year earlier if they were born before March.
The elementary school is divided into two stages: Lower grades (grades 1-4) Higher grades (grades 5-8)
In the lower grades, students are sorted into classes randomly and have only one teacher and classroom for all subjects, except for English and religion which are taught by separate teachers.
The teacher that teaches lower grade primary school students has only one class of students assigned to them and remains with the class for 4 years.
In the higher grades, students get a whole new range of teachers and classrooms for each subject. Teachers don't change over the years; they remain the same for the next four years. In the 5th grade, each class is assigned The Head Teacher, who is responsible for students in the particular class.
When students graduate from the primary school, they choose whether they want to continue their education or not. National Strategy for Education plans to make secondary education compulsory.
Subjects taught at primary school: Subject Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8Mother tongue (Serbian, Hungarian, Albanian, etc.)5 classes5 classes5 classes5 classes5 classes4 classes4 classes4 classes Mathematics5 classes5 classes5 classes5 classes4 classes4 classes4 classes 4 classesSerbian as a second language2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classesEnglish language2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classesFine art 1 class1 class1 class1 class1 class1 class1 class1 classMusic1 class1 class1 class1 class1 class1 class1 class1 classPhysical Education3 classes3 classes3 classes3 classes3 classes3 classes3 classes3 classesCompulsory elective (Religion or civics) 1 class1 class1 class1 class1 class1 class1 class1 classNature and Society2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes////Foreign language (usually German, French or Russian)////2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classesHistory////2 classes2 classes2 classes 2 classesBiology////2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classesGeography////2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classesPhysics 2 classes2 classes2 classesChemistry2 classes2 classes
Secondary education
Secondary schools are divided into three types - gymnasiums, vocational, and specialized schools. After graduating from the primary school, students take an entrance exam called matura (lat. maturare). The test covers subjects that were taught in primary school. They are awarded the maximum of 40 points at the test. They also get points from their average marks from 6th to 8th grade, and the maximum is 60 points. Both the points from matura and from average marks are totalized into the maximum of 100 points. Then, students make a list of their preferred schools and courses and are sorted according to how many points they had gained - every secondary school has a limited number of students it takes and a minimum number of points for needed for enrolling. After students make lists for preferred schools, they get into the first school that suits them according to the points. If they fail to get into any of the schools they had listed (ex. if they don't have enough points, but they had chosen very competitive schools), they make another list for the Second Enrollment Deadline.
There are secondary schools that require taking an additional entrance exam(s) as well as the classical point system for entrance. Various music, science, language, philology and ballet schools sort students out based on their talent and skill.
Gymnasium Gymnasiums (gimnazija) take four years to complete and offer general and broad education, awarding students a gymnasium diploma. Students are advised to continue their education after graduation as it is very hard to find a job with a gymnasium diploma. There are also four types of special gymnasiums: the Mathematics Gymnasium of Mathematics, the Physics Gymnasium of Physics, the Computer Sciences Gymnasium and the Philology Gymnasium. There are plans for an integrated entrance exam for higher education, as well as unified scoring systems for entrance exams, even for special gymnasiums.
Gymnasiums have its courses (smerovi), and the most common ones are the General Course, Science-Mathematics Course, Humanities-Linguistics Course, Information Technology Course, and the Bilingual Course. Students can only choose one course (they do it when they write their wish list for preferred schools and courses) and they usually don't change it until they graduate. Every course has the same number and list of classes, but the difference is in their schedules (for example, the Humanities-Linguistic Course might have English classes five times a week, while the Science-Mathematics Course offers two English classes a week).
Subjects taught at gymnasiums and the number of 45-minute classes per week depending on the course: +Humanities-Linguistics CourseSubjectGrade 1Grade 2Grade 3Grade 4Serbian language and literature4 classes4 classes5 classes5 classesEnglish language2 classes3 classes5 classes4 classesSecond foreign language2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classesLatin2 classes2 classes//Psychology/2 classes//The Constitution and Civil Rights///1 classSociology///3 classesPhilosophy//2 classes3 classesHistory2 classes2 classes3 classes3 classesGeography2 classes2 classes2 classes/Biology2 classes2 classes2 classes/Mathematics4 classes3 classes2 classes2 classesPhysics2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classesChemistry2 classes2 classes//Computer science and information technology2 classes2 classes1 class1 classMusic1 class1 class1 class1 classFine art1 class1 class1 class1 classPhysical education2 classes2 classes2 classes2 classes
Vocational schools