Migrant and refugee children attend schools with children from Serbia

In the Republic of Serbia, migrant and refugee children have access to education just like local children, in accordance with the protection of the rights of workers and migrants and their family members, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international documents, as well as national regulations.

During December 2022, 182 migrant and refugee students were included in the education system. They attend a total of 51 schools – 33 primary, 16 secondary schools and two preschool institutions. Of the total number of enrolled children, 68 are from Ukraine. Children attend classes in the following school administrations: Belgrade, Novi Sad, Leskovac, Sombor, Valjevo, Kraljevo, Novi Pazar, Zrenjanin, Užice.

In the course of 2022, 12 mentors were hired who represent the link between the Ministry of Education and the schools attended by migrant and refugee children. Mentors provide continuous support to schools, and thus to migrant and refugee students, in order to make the education system of the Republic of Serbia as accessible to them as possible. Seven translators have been hired through the EU Support to Migration Management in Serbia to help translate teaching materials into the students’ native language, primarily for those students who have not yet mastered the Serbian language enough to fully follow all the teaching content. Translations of didactic materials are carried out in Arabic, Farsi, Ukrainian and French.

In April 2022, with the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, refugees from war-affected areas began to arrive in Serbia. After the adaptation period, children are included in the education system. Considering that this is not the first time that schools work with refugee students, they are prepared to work with them. Two translators are in charge of translating the materials into the Ukrainian language, so students from Ukraine had access to school materials in their native language.