A little more than a month was left for schoolchildren to rest until the beginning new school year. Some may have already acquired the books, some are waiting for lists, and some may be waiting for the president Aleksandar Vučić to fulfill his promise.
In the sea of promises, which are quickly and easily forgotten, one was announced at the beginning of February that, in cooperation with the trade unions, they would begin a comprehensive reform of education, within the framework of which they were supposed to do their best to ensure that from September students receive free textbooks throughout the territory of Serbia.
This story was actually based on an idea Miloš Vucevic, who announced on January 27, as the outgoing prime minister, that starting the next day, he will negotiate with the Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali about the possibility of free textbooks for students in Serbia and public transport everywhere.
Was it all just part of the campaign?
Vučević's idea of free textbooks throughout Serbia was further encouraged in the municipality of Brus, which President Vučić visited on February 1.
"I, unlike other politicians, have never been enthusiastic about the story of free textbooks, because you have to take it from someone else in order for the state to give you anything for free. I agree that it is unfair that textbooks are free only in Belgrade. That raises the question of how to get out of that vicious circle. I can't promise whether it will happen in three or four months, but I will do my best to have free textbooks in Serbia from September," said Vučić at the time.
At that time, he too was bothered by unequal investment in different parts of our country, among other things in the field of education.
"Politicians are like that today, 'just vote for me and we'll solve it', 'I'll just replace this one', and they have no idea about anything. I don't want the Belgradeization of Serbia, I want everyone to have equal rights, because such a difference in investment between Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Niš compared to all other places means that people have a harder time deciding to stay in their places," he said.
Why are textbooks expensive?
In recent years, parents of students in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, have been receiving free textbooks, that is, money for their purchase. Previously, students in Surdulica also received free textbooks, and some local governments give them to students in the first grade of elementary school.
Economist Nikola Altimarkov was back in January, after Miloš Vucevic's statement from which everything originated, told "Vreme" that, in order for such an initiative to be implemented, the root of the problem must first be looked at - why textbooks are expensive in Serbia.
"For the last quarter of a century, we have had a completely irrational textbook publishing system," he said.
If an economically optimized textbook publishing system were introduced, their price would be several times lower.
"When you lower the price of textbooks, then you can talk about free textbooks. This should be discussed at the republican level, not at the local self-government level," Altiparmakov concluded at the time.
A new promise - national textbooks
While free textbooks were almost forgotten, at the session on July 17, the Government of Serbia adopted the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Textbooks, and in it - national textbooks.
These are textbooks for the Serbian language, Serbian language and literature, the world around us, nature and society, history, geography, musical culture and art culture, as well as textbooks of special importance for national minorities.
All primary school students in Serbia will learn these subjects from the same textbook. The national textbooks will be issued by the state publisher Zavod za sudkibnik, and they will be successively introduced only starting from the 2026/2027 school year. year.
National identity at the expense of quality
This change is aimed at "preserving national identity, developing a sense of belonging, respecting the mother tongue and nurturing traditions, while at the same time encouraging interculturalism and preserving cultural heritage", it was announced after the adoption of the decision.
The Association of Textbook Publishers, on behalf of its 13 members, believes that "the current legislative initiative was brought with the aim of forcibly suspending the work of educational publishers, through mechanisms that do not encourage quality, competition and development, and for the benefit of consumers and citizens of the Republic of Serbia, and our children, but are trying to create a closed, monopolistic system that opens up space for the employment of individuals who, until now, have not managed to find their place in the educational and publishing system of Serbia with their work and knowledge".
They believe that the introduction of uniform national textbooks will lead to a decrease in the quality of teaching, and that teachers will not have the opportunity to choose the materials that best suit their class, but will be reduced to mechanical transmitters of centralized content.
Source: Nova.rs
