In addition to the Committee members, the sitting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and Ministry of Finance and Economy.

Radivoje Mitrovic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, briefly outlined the content of the Education Strategy in the Republic of Serbia until 2020, saying that the Strategy covers pre-school, elementary, high-school and higher education, vocational and academic studies and lifelong learning. He stressed that the Strategy provides the foundation for all future laws, decrees and rulebooks in the sphere of education, science and technological development, adding that an Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy is currently being drafted.

The Committee members agreed that the Strategy should first undergo a public debate and adopted the proposal to hold a two-day public debate, due to the complexity of the topic and the number of areas it covers, on 28 November and 12 December 2012, at the National Assembly House.

The Republic of Serbia 2013 Budget Bill – section 24, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, was elaborated by a representative of the Ministry of Finance and Economy who stressed that the funds proposed in the budget, amounting to over 15% of the total Republic of Serbia 2013 budget, have been established in line with the recommendations and demands of the International Monetary Fund.

Following a debate, the Committee decided, by a majority of votes, to propose that the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending accept the Republic of Serbia 2013 Budget Bill – section 24, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, in principle.

The Committee members also considered an anonymous proposal sent to the Committee and decided that the Committee should not consider proposals of this kind in future.

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