Serbia's SRCE Party Slams Education Ministry Over Teacher Shortages and Low Enrollment

The "Srbija centar" (SRCE) party has sharply criticized Serbia's Ministry of Education, stating that its policies have led to a situation where "no one wants to work in education anymore." The party pointed to alarmingly low enrollment figures for teaching programs at the University of Belgrade, citing only 11 new students for geography, nine for mathematics, five for physics, and a mere one for chemistry. This comes despite a reported shortage of approximately 700 mathematics teachers, 300 physics teachers, and 200 computer science teachers.

SRCE's education committee noted that the problem of unqualified and missing teaching staff is not new but has worsened annually. The opposition party asserted that over the 14 years of the Serbian Progressive Party's (SNS) governance, the Ministry of Education has done nothing to tackle this serious issue. The consequences, SRCE argues, include not only poor student performance on PISA tests but also low scores on entrance and final exams.

The party further elaborated that the issue of unqualified teaching staff in Serbia's educational system is far deeper than the tenure of the current minister, Dejan Vuk Stanković. SRCE recalled raising this concern two years prior with the then-minister, Slavica Đukić Dejanović, inquiring about strategies to reverse the drastic drop in natural science students pursuing teaching careers.

SRCE highlighted that three education ministers have been changed by the ruling majority in just three years – Slavica Đukić Dejanović, Branko Ružić, and Dejan Vuk Stanković. None, according to the party, possessed the knowledge or capacity to confront the numerous problems in education, with the lack of qualified teachers being among the most significant. SRCE referenced a document from the University of Belgrade, "Platform for Improving the Status of Teacher Education," which identifies the formation of a database of needed and unqualified teachers by district and school as a necessary first step. This database, though part of a 2023 document, has never been disclosed.

The party also criticized Minister Stanković for not fulfilling his promise to declare certain teaching positions as deficitary, which would have allowed those teachers to receive systemic support, including increased salaries and improved status. Instead, SRCE claims, the minister has continued to support the "illegal" authority of school principals. These politically appointed directors, described as "ministers' obedient servants," allegedly offer temporary contracts to young specialists, using the promise of permanent employment to "blackmail" them. This practice allegedly leaves young professionals in a state where they cannot secure loans or resolve housing issues, and pregnant teachers cannot fully utilize maternity leave benefits. Furthermore, schools are reportedly not involved in mentoring or training young individuals for this demanding profession, a situation that SRCE believes the June enrollment figures clearly illustrate.