Abstract

The political and economic changes that followed the adoption of the Strategy for the Development of Education in Serbia 2020 essentially betrayed the basic ideas and intentions of the strategy, creating a systematic threat to education and its role in the development of Serbia. This created an almost experimental situation for analysing the impact of political and social factors on changes in education. In the sphere of politics, new trends have emerged (centralisation of power; marginalisation of democratic institutions; encouraging foreign investment in companies with a low technological level, etc.) that strongly influenced changes (‘reforms’) in education (great centralisation in education, the strong influence of politics on education, imposing of some lower-level forms of education, reducing professional autonomy, etc.). The basic mechanism of transferring the general policy to education is changing the role of the most important national institutions in defining and implementing education policy: the National Education Council, the National Council for Vocational and Adult Education, the National Council for Higher Education, and the National Accreditation Body. The adoption of new education laws (2017) radically changed their status and competencies, resulting in a reduction of their independence and professionalism and strengthening the role of the ministry, through which the influence of the ruling political regime is transferred. Also, the role of the Chamber of Commerce in education has been strengthened. Such a system endangers the autonomy of educational institutions and teachers, as well as the quality of education. Consequently, these changes have a clear impact on the country’s development and its international position.

Highlights

  • The literature asserts that the state context and politics are significant influences on the course of education and play an important role in shaping education policy, including the translation of policy into practice (Cooper et al, 2008; Fuhrman, 1989; Youdell, 2010)

  • In our previous work (Ivić & Pešikan, 2012), we presented relevant reform waves in Serbia after the country’s major political changes in the year 2000, finishing the review with the adoption of the Strategy of Education Development in Serbia to 2020 (SEDS, 2012)

  • This paper aims to show how education has been influenced by general policy in the country since 2012, which has deviated from SEDS and well-established and developed trajectories of education development in Serbia

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Summary

Ana Pešikan in Ivan Ivić

Politične in gospodarske spremembe, ki so sledile sprejetju Strategije razvoja šolstva v Srbiji 2020, so pravzaprav izdale osnovne ideje in namene te strategije ter s tem ustvarile sistemsko grožnjo izobraževanju in njegovi vlogi pri razvoju Srbije. Na političnem področju so nastali novi trendi (centralizacija oblasti, marginalizacija demokratičnih institucij, spodbujanje tujih naložb v podjetja z nizko stopnjo tehnološkega razvoja itn.), ki so močno vplivali na spremembe ('reforme') v izobraževanju (velika centralizacija izobraževanja, močen vpliv politike na izobraževanje, vsiljevanje nekaterih nižjih stopenj izobraževanja, zmanjševanje strokovne avtonomije itn.). Osnovni mehanizem prenosa splošne politike v izobraževanje je spreminjanje vloge najpomembnejših državnih institucij pri določanju in izvajanju izobraževalne politike, tj. Posledica sprememb pa je zmanjšanje njihove samostojnosti in strokovnosti s sočasno krepitvijo vloge ministrstva, prek katerega se prenaša vpliv vladajočega političnega režima na šolstvo. Ključne besede: izobraževalna politika, družbena sprememba, vpliv politike na izobraževanje c e p s Journal | Vol.11 | No2 | Year 2021 61

Introduction
Contentious political moves in education in Serbia
Key characteristics and implications of the adopted measures
Conclusion
Findings
Biographical note
Full Text
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