The action “Quality education for all – Serbia” proposes a series of complementary measures at policy, grass roots and regional levels to further improve the quality of education in Serbia by fostering a culture of democracy and inclusion and combatting all forms of discrimination in the formal education system, in line with the Council of Europe standards and tools and developed in consultation with key stakeholders and final beneficiaries.

This action is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye" running from 2023 until 2026.


What is the goal and objective of the action?

  • to enhance the quality of education by fostering a democratic culture in the formal education system and addressing discrimination by applying European standards
  • to support policy makers to further improve and align practices and policies with EU acquis, European Union and the Council of Europe standards
  • to ensure that a democratic culture is promoted as a key element for a quality education by raising awareness in society


Who benefits from the action?

  • the Ministry of Education, the Institute for Improvement of Education, the Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation and other education institutions
  • primary and secondary schools in Serbia including teachers and school management, students, parents and their communities
  • society of Serbia that will enjoy the benefits of an education system enriched by a democratic culture


How does the action work?

  • through both grassroots and policy-level interventions
  • with education policy-making and targeted capacity building, awareness-raising, tailor-made school and higher education projects and joint school activities, working group meetings, conferences and peer exchanges
  • it builds on the results of co-operation under previous two phases of the programme: action “Fostering a democratic school culture” (2016-2019) and action “Quality education for all” (2019-2022)


What do we expect to achieve?

  • education policy makers include Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture into the education system to the benefit of all people
  • teachers, school management, education professionals, other school staff, students, parents and local communities benefit from reduced instances of discrimination, violence and increased mutual understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence in а culturally diverse society
  • awareness of the importance of a democratic culture as a key element of quality education for all is raised and strengthened


What is the budget of the action?

The total budget of the action is 1,000,000 EUR.

The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 Million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).


How to get more information?


About Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.