The Report was said to include both the overview of the situation in the analysed field and an outline of the corruption risks in the textbook approval and selection procedure in schools. After consultation with all the relevant institutions, the analysis established that the main cause of irregularities discovered in the sphere stem from a poorly defined legal framework. The fact that the free textbook project is not regulated by law was particularly underlined. Having established irregularities in both the textbook preparation and distribution stage, Agency Director Tatjana Babic informed the Committee members on the Agency’s recommendations for the elimination of said irregularities which, among other things, mean regulating the content of textbooks and reviewing them, establishing control over the work of publishers, evaluation of textbooks in schools etc. The Agency’s findings were declared to contain all the elements of a good platform which could serve as the basis for the regulation of many of the irregularities in this segment of education.
In the ensuing debate between the Committee members, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development Zoran Masic and members of the National Education Council revolved around the situation in the education, textbook quality and the need for a more precise legal regulation of the subject matter.
In the continuation, the members of the Association of Teachers’ Unions of Serbia presented their Platform on education laws. The Committee members were briefed on the Platform’s basic content which includes proposals for addressing such issues as the rationalisation of the network of schools, evaluation system, working with children with developmental difficulties as part on the inclusion programme pursued by schools, status of teachers, amendments to the Adult Education Law and regulating the right to strike by a special law. According to State Secretary Zoran Masic, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development will take all of the Platform’s elements into consideration in the drafting of the education bills planned for May 2013.
At the sitting, the Committee also considered the petition of the Association of Private Higher Education Institutions of Serbia PRIVUS the content of which was presented by the Association President, Milivoje Todoric. The petition outlined the alleged irregularities in the accreditation process for higher education institutions. The President of the National Council for Higher Education, Prof. Dr Srdjan Stankovic, and the President of the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission, Vera Vujcic, took part in the discussion on the issue.
The Committee held the sitting in accordance with article 71, paragraph 4, of the National Assembly Rules of Procedure.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Prof. Dr Miodrag Stojkovic.