Addressing the teachers posted to Serbian-language schools abroad, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dačić, said that 8,000 Serbian children attended classes in Serbian in the diaspora.

Dačić emphasized that preserving, strengthening and establishing the ties of the diaspora and Serbs in the region with the motherland was one of the strategic goals of Serbia, announced the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

He said that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including diplomatic and consular missions, were implementing a series of measures and activities aimed at developing awareness of the importance of the Serbian language in preserving national and cultural identity and establishing permanent ties with the homeland, and that there was continuous activity on expanding the networks of Serbian schools.

– We have very good results in this regard. Classes in Serbian are held in 19 countries today, everywhere where our people live and work – from Germany and Austria, to Australia and the Republic of South Africa. Even more importantly, 8,000 children attend classes in their mother tongue – stated Dačić.

Dačić said that the number of those interested in classes in Serbian was growing year by year, and that had to be a great encouragement for everyone.

– This means that our people in the diaspora care for their identity, that they want to know where they came from and that they want to pass that feeling of patriotism on to their children – emphasized Dačić.

The Ministry of Education will post 25 regular teachers to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Greece, Norway and the United States of America, to carry out educational work in Serbian abroad in the next school year.

The Education Ministry has extended the engagement of 20 full-time and 59 part-time teachers to carry out educational work abroad in Serbian in the 2023/2024 school year.

Training for teachers posted to work abroad, organized by the Ministry, is held in Belgrade. It is a systematic training, created on the basis of educational requirements, needs and program activities that include the improvement of educational work abroad.

The training is held by experts from the academic community, educational practice, Education Ministry and Institute for the Improvement of Education.

The Ministry of Education of Serbia organizes educational work in Serbian in 17 countries. These are Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Slovenia, Malta, Greece, Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, South Africa, Spain, the Russian Federation and Australia.

New student groups to be taught in Serbian according to a special program of basic education and upbringing abroad, have been formed for the first time in New Zealand.

Educational work in Serbian abroad in the 2022/23 school year included 7,957 students of Serbian nationality, divided into 447 teaching groups, and classes were taught by 100 teachers – 30 full-time and 70 part-time.

Source: RTRS – SRNA – Dijaspora dnevno

Photo: Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region