Serbia Ministry Links Law Changes to School Inspections

Serbia’s Ministry of Education has for the first time explained in writing why it is introducing disputed changes to the Law on the Fundamentals of the Education System. In documentation it submitted to parents at the Ninth Belgrade Gymnasium, the ministry states that some of the provisions came out of problems identified during school inspections.

The draft changes were presented on July 24, 2026. They have been put on hold for now because of objections from unions and have not been placed on the agenda of the current extraordinary session of Serbia’s National Assembly, which has 59 items on it. Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabic had expected the law to be adopted by the end of August, but at a meeting with the unions, according to available information, it was said that it would not be adopted without further consultations.

The Parents’ Council of the Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium had already called on August 3 for the changes to be withdrawn, a month and a half before the ministry sent its written explanation to parents at the Ninth Gymnasium. A date for the public debate on the draft still has not been set.

What the Draft Changes

Two of the draft’s provisions concern school staff. A teacher’s license can be suspended if they fail to carry out their teaching duties even after a written warning from the school principal. The same provision, tied to failure to carry out the principal’s orders, is being introduced for school secretaries as well.

The other changes reduce the influence of parents and students. The parents’ council would be capped at eight members in primary schools and 15 in secondary schools, replacing the current rule under which every class sends one representative. The council would lose the power to set its own agenda, and would no longer have a say on textbook selection or on how the school spends its funds. Parent members of the school board could be removed only for making unlawful decisions, which strips the council of its ability to recall a representative who votes against its decision.

Students would lose the right to freely organize into groups and clubs, leaving only the student parliament as a channel for organizing, while the parliament’s representatives would also have less say at school board sessions.

What the Ministry and the Union Say

In the documentation for parents at the Ninth Belgrade Gymnasium, the Ministry of Education stated that “certain solutions arose from problems identified during school inspections.”

The Serbian Education Trade Unions’ Union addressed the draft by saying: “We are sticking to the proposals concerning the reduction of administration.” The union thus confirms its position on the changes affecting employees’ rights, while taking a separate stance on the provisions that alter the position of the parents’ council and students.

For now, the draft remains off the Assembly’s agenda, and there is no date for when the public debate might begin. Whether the law is adopted by the end of the year, and in what form, will depend on how far the ministry is willing to bend to objections that, judging by the reactions so far from the parents’ councils at two Belgrade gymnasiums, arrived before the draft was even explained to the public.