At the sitting held on 22 September 2010, the Education Committee members considered the National Education Council’s 2009 Activity Report and 2010 Work Plan; Initiation of election procedure for new National Education Council members and the Information on the meeting with the representatives of the Serbian Geographical Society and Historians Society of Serbia. The Committee members were also briefed on the Information on the realisation of the agreement with representatives of schools educating young talents according to a special programme.

National Education Council President Desanka Radunovic briefed the Committee on the 2009 Activity Report and 2010 Work Plan, stressing that she was satisfied with the Council’s work in the previous year, above all the work on the adoption of educational standards and programme reforms, as well as the Council’s participation in the adoption of four education laws. She announced the Council’s work on the grammar school reform in Serbia and greater participation in concept creation. She added that the Council had commenced work on a document on the directions of development and improvement of the education system which might be a prelude to the adoption of a comprehensive education strategy.

In the discussion on this item on the agenda, the Committee members highlighted the importance and function of the National Education Council, especially in light of the recently adopted amendments to the laws regulating the field, particularly focusing on the issue of inclusion and requesting a report from the competent institutions on the current course of the inclusive process in Serbian schools. In the discussion, this year’s Activity Report was declared better than the last as it clearly demonstrated that the Council had worked last year. The Committee members said that the Report should be accepted, expressing the opinion that the Council would in future take a stand and further address the “burning” issues from the sphere of education.

Following the discussion, the Committee members accepted the National Education Council’s 2009 Activity Report and 2010 Work Plan by a majority of votes.

The Committee went on to consider the Initiation of election procedure for new National Education Council members, considering that the term of office of a number of members had expired, so new need to be elected. Committee Chairman Zoran Sami reminded the Committee members that one Council member had passed away, one reached retirement age, and the Committee had requested that the National Assembly discharge one member due to a conflict of interest. He also informed the Committee that the term of office of the remaining Council members who were elected for 6 years, would expire on 23 May 2011, and that the electoral procedure should be initiated 4 months before the expiration of the term of office. He also said that the term of office of those members who would now be elected would also expire then, and that the new law would govern the new election. The Committee members discussed the justification of initiating election procedure for three Council members if their term of office would expire in just a few months and concluded that the valid regulations should be honoured and therefore unanimously decided that the election procedure should be initiated.

The Committee members also considered the Information on the meeting with the representatives of the Serbian Geographical Society and Historians Society of Serbia presented to them by the Committee Chairman. He shortly explained that the representatives of the Serbian Geographical Society and Historians Society of Serbia had informed the Committee on the reduced history and geography class fund in vocational high schools and their arguments against it. In the discussion the National Education Council President informed the Committee that this school year had commenced using the reduced fund curriculum, but that an agreement had been reached with the representatives of the Serbian Geographical Society and Historians Society of Serbia that it should have a one-year limitation considering that the reform of vocational high-schools plans and curriculums would be on the agenda next year and the issue would again be considered. In most vocational high schools history is a compulsory subject in the first grade and the Council had created a Commission that would address the issue within the reform. The Committee members also discussed the role the Committee might take in the debates on the issue and ruled by a majority of votes that a joint meeting should be held on the issue between representatives of the Ministry of Education, Serbian Geographical Society and Historians Society of Serbia, the Committee and other relevant institutions.

The Committee Chairman went on to notify the Committee members on the Information on the realisation of the agreement with representatives of schools educating young talents according to a special programme and informed them on the received material which the Committee is to discuss in the next sitting. The Committee members also discussed the issue of the acknowledgement of University of Pristina diplomas.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Dr Zoran Sami.