Serbian Teachers Enter New School Year With Pay Below the National Average

Serbia’s education workers are starting the new school year with salaries below the national average, despite some of the country’s largest recent wage increases. They also face uncertain employment conditions because many continue to work on temporary contracts.

Ministry of Finance data show that pay in education rose by a cumulative 28.6% this year and last year. Yet the increase has not kept the sector above the national average. The average education salary paid in June was 117,229 dinars, compared with 120,401 dinars across Serbia.

Teachers received a 5.1% increase in January 2026 as part of an agreement between the government and unions. Earlier increases included an 11% rise in January of the previous year, followed by two increases of 5% in March and October. No further increases were planned for this year.

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If an education worker had close to three minimum wages as their basic salary in 2012, and today has only 1.55 minimum wages, can we talk about any status when discussing the material position of education workers?

The sector briefly moved above the national average in October last year. Education pay then reached 111,796 dinars, compared with a national average of 110,670 dinars. In the months before and after, it remained below the national figure.

Dušan Kokot, president of Serbia’s Independent Union of Education Workers, said the long-term trend showed a deterioration in teachers’ relative position. “If an education worker had close to three minimum wages as their basic salary in 2012, and today has only 1.55 minimum wages, can we talk about any status when discussing the material position of education workers?” he told Biznis.rs. Kokot said about 90% of education employees have higher education, while the national average includes many workers with secondary education. He argued that salaries should be linked to the minimum wage and warned that continued wage compression could leave teachers earning the minimum within five years.

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We must link salaries in some way to the minimum wage. Wage compression over the last 15 years tells us that an education worker will be on the minimum wage in five years.