Serbia's Education & Dual Education 2020

GUIDE TO

Serbia's Education

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D U A L E D U C AT I O N 2 0 2 0

Mladen Šarčević, Serbian Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development ● Dragan Domazet Ph.D., Founder and President of Belgrade Metropolitan University ● Aleksandar Sedmak Ph.D., Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade; Director of the Innovation Centre of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Belgrade; Vice-president of ESIS; President of DIVK ● Zoran Bundalo Ph.D., Director of the High Railway School of Vocational Studies ● Prof. Milica Vukotić, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Information Systems and Technologies, University of Donja Gorica, Podgorica ● Nataša Jovanović Lješković, Dean of the Novi Sad Faculty of Pharmacy, Novi Sad ● Bratislav Filipović, Founder and Instructor-Coordinator of Academy Filipović ● Ralf Naeve, Director of the German School of Belgrade ● Ferdinand Ayen, CEO of Ernst Klett Präsenzlernen Osteuropa GmbH – Provider of Klett DUAL in Serbia ● Predrag Kovačić, Manufacturing Engineering Manager at Grundfos ● Goran Janković, Inmold CEO ● Ivica Dimitrijević, Founder and Director of UniStyle and Delux Style ● Milena Lopušina, Founder of MIND LABoratory ● Predrag Mihajlović, Director, Lingua Hub

CONTENTS

Serbia's Education

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D U A L E D U C AT I O N 2 0 2 0

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TRANSFERRING KNOWLEDGE IS THE MOST RESPONSIBLE JOB

MLADEN ŠARČEVIĆ, SERBIAN MINISTER OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

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UDG IS THE UNIVERSITY FOR THE FUTURE

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WE EDUCATE FUTURE LEADERS OF THE PROFESSION

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EVERYTHING STARTS WITH A GOOD IDEA

MILICA VUKOTIĆ, PH.D., DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES UNIVERSITY OF DONJA GORICA, PODGORICA

NATAŠA JOVANOVIĆ LJEŠKOVIĆ, DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF PHARMACY, NOVI SAD

BRATISLAV FILIPOVIĆ, FOUNDER AND INSTRUCTORCOORDINATOR OF ACADEMY FILIPOVIĆ

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FROM PRE-SCHOOL TO POST-DIPLOMA

RALF NAEVE, DIRECTOR OF THE GERMAN SCHOOL OF BELGRADE; CHRISTOPH CZETTL, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE GERMAN SCHOOL OF BELGRADE

CONFORMISM IS PERNICIOUS

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ZORAN BUNDALO PH.D., DIRECTOR, HIGH RAILWAY SCHOOL OF VOCATIONAL STUDIES, BELGRADE

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THE MOST SUCCESSFUL LEARN CONSTANTLY

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STABILITY, RELIANCE, & EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

IVICA DIMITRIJEVIĆ, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF UNISTYLE AND DELUX STIL

THE ECONOMY RELIES ON US

OUR TIME IS YET TO COME

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YOUNG PEOPLE NEED PRACTISE

GORAN JANKOVIĆ, INMOLD CEO

DRAGAN DOMAZET PH.D., FOUNDER AND CHANCELLOR OF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

ALEKSANDAR SEDMAK PH.D., FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE; DIRECTOR OF THE INNOVATION CENTRE OF THE FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, BELGRADE; VICE-PRESIDENT OF ESIS; PRESIDENT OF DIVK

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PRACTICE IS GAINED IN THE FIELD

MILENA LOPUŠINA, FOUNDER OF MIND LABORATORY

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NEW KNOWLEDGE FOR A NEW ERA

THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FUTURE EDUCATION

CIVIL SOCIETY EDUCATIONAL ORGANISATION BELGRADE OPEN SCHOOL (BOS) BELGRADE OPEN SCHOOL (BOS)

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DUAL EDUCATION IS A STRONG TOOL

FERDINAND AYEN, CEO OF ERNST KLETT PRÄSENZLERNEN OSTEUROPA GMBH – PROVIDER OF KLETT DUAL IN SERBIA; PREDRAG KOVAČIĆ, MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING MANAGER AT GRUNDFOS

PREDRAG MIHAJLOVIĆ, DIRECTOR, LINGUA HUB

INTERVIEW

MLADEN ŠARČEVIĆ, SERBIAN MINISTER OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

Transferring Knowledge Is The Most Responsible Job More than 600 experts have been working for 10 months already on a new strategy for education and science until 2030.

Although it is built on healthy foundations, the reform will not be able to be implemented overnight, as we now have to implement programmatic and organisational changes that demand time

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peaking exclusively for CorD about the introduction of accountability principles, national testing, the reform of high schools and new vocations, the expansion of colleges and student dormitories, the opening of technology parks, the funding of science and all innovations brought by the strategy is Mladen Šarčević, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development in the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

• Work on the new Education Strategy has been ongoing for a long time. Are you satisfied with the effect so far?

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- I can’t not be satisfied with what has been done, especially when we consider that my team and I embarked on this work in 2017, and since then we’ve had to change numerous paradigms. More than 600 people, including a huge number of practitioners, worked for more than 10 months on various elements of the strategy.

For some areas there was no existing strategy, while for others there was – the one from 2012 – but there was no implementation. Numerous systemic laws had to be changed, so we at the National Assembly had as many as 35 laws. Some are completely new, others have been

amended, while more than 150 by-laws and guidelines have been adopted. Money is no longer a problem either, as we’ve secured around 27.4 million euros from SBS [sector budget support].

• The strongest and weakest links in any serious undertaking are the people, while a problem in our country is a lack of responsibility. Can this change with the strategy?

- Transferring knowledge is the toughest and most responsible job, and is not for everyone. The managers of a school must understand that they will be replaced if

they don’t work, and that a license is difficult to obtain and easy to lose. We are raising the level of responsibility to the highest level and introducing personal accountability, because with people it can’t be otherwise. School principals must know their job. It is essential for us to have constant external reviews of their work, the work of the institution,

their homework, to learn with the help of teachers, to learn languages, work in student cooperatives etc. By the end of the year single shift work will be introduced to another 200 schools, while a pilot programme for secondary schools will begin. This is the best response to the problems in society and in this way we gain a healthy nation.

are learning programming in a big way, which has provided us with the foundation to open IT departments in high schools.

That’s the fastest growing area, and included there is also the gaming industry.

Last year we exported software worth $ 1.096 billion – more than agriculture in its entirety.

• How much will the needs of the economy be reflected in the strategy, given that education is the largest economic resource today?

- We can’t copy other people’s models, because our economy is unique, but we have to adapt to our specifics. We need many professions in the field of aviation and the aviation industry, which is why we are building new buildings of three secondary schools and expanding the capacities of colleges. When major new companies arrive, it is obligatory for them to talk with our Ministry to see what can be done with regard to the personnel that they need.

• When it comes to secondary education, the Strategy also envisages the reform of ‘gymnasium’ high schools. What can students expect?

- The reform of gymnasium/grammar high schools is nearing completion, with 90

the outcomes of teaching, as well as international checks. Testing centres will determine what knowhow children have acquired every two years, through national testing, as an indicator of progress and what needs to be changed and improved.

In order for teachers to be motivated they need to be better paid, and for that we lack paying classes. If you work poorly and have a salary like someone who is committed and achieving great results, there is no reason to improve yourself.

• What has already been done when it comes to planned activities?

- We’ve introduced single shift work in 300 schools with almost 80 special pedagogical contents that enable children to participate in more sports, to complete

As of September, we'll have a Unique Information System in education, which will have numerous bases - who works, where they work, how they work, grades, and it will also be able to be used in analytics

A lot of pgress has also been achieved in digitalisation, which began in our country with us introducing IT studies to the fifth grade of primary schools ad hoc. At that time we secured computers with the help of donations – we now have 40,000 of them, while by the end of the year we will have close to 60,000, and in a year and a half to two years we’ll have 70,000 or more. Today children from the age of 11

per cent concluded. We have 13 special profiles and programmes, and for the first time we’ve recognised talented children in a broad sample and realised that, in addition to mathematics and linguistics, we need departments of physics, chemistry and biology, as well as history and geography. We will have departments of sport for the first time, meaning real sports gymnasiums, an international diploma MARCH

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of Belgrade, and at present we don’t receive that much money even from IT. We are now extending a loan of 132 million euros from the CEB [Council of Europe Development Bank] for new colleges and student dormitories, as it is our intention to bring a larger number of foreign students to these top programmes, such as medicine, IT, food technology, according to which we are ranked 37th in the world.

• It could be said that science is our strongest side?

- We have created independent bodies, have laws on science and research, the Innovation Fund, NAT, NQF, the Fund for Science etc. The Fund for Science has shown itself to be a great solution, because only competitive processes are looked at, external international evaluations of projects, while there is nothing through connections. programme, but also art gymnasiums, among which will be profiles for visual and performing arts, which are important due to the development of the creative industries.

• On what do you base your optimism?

- Salaries have increased five times in three years, so when it comes to pay grades, education will be on a good road as of 1st January next year. A lot of work is being done on infrastructure and this gives the whole story a good foundation, because existing facilities are dilapidated and outdated. In three years, we have arranged more than 900 facilities, spending nearly €300 million in the process. We have done the hardest part of the job, which is not seen, and created an entire legal framework without which nothing else would be worthwhile.

• What is the situation like with private colleges?

- Not all private colleges are bad, nor are they all good. We cannot infer that some private college is bad, especially if it enrols students, pays its obligations to the state and satisfies all formal condi8 |

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Despite rapid technological development, children are not taught by teaching appliances, but rather by teachers. In order for the strategy to be implemented successfully, teachers need to receive support tions. The value of a college is shown by the entry value of enrolled students, the opinions of employers - who they hire and how much they pay them, while the third indicator of quality is the advice of employers.

Apart from all of that, we have finally obliged private colleges to provide bank guarantees for all years of study, for the total number of students and programmes.

• Good quality education today means that we send good students out into the world. Can the Strategy bring foreign students to us?

- Education can be a strong branch of industry for us strategically and we should relate to it in that way. We could earn at least two billion euros today from foreign students, and that’s only at the University

Science is indeed the best regulated part of the system, and it is very good that Serbia is invited to join international scientific foundations and institutions. We have already adopted a partial strategy for artificial intelligence, and we are in the finally phase of adopting a smart specialisation strategy that is the link between industry and science. And here we’ve mapped four scientific areas - food for the future, machines for the future, ICT and the creative industries.

We are strong regionally; Serbia is a regional leader. Serbia has withdrawn over 100 million euros from the funds of Horizon 2020. That is 90 per cent of all funds in the region, which shows how good and high-quality our scientists are.

We’re on the right track. Now all we need to do is speed up, stay on course and not stop! ■

DRAGAN DOMAZET PH.D., FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF BELGRADE METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY BUSINESS

Conformism Is Pernicious

Belgrade Metropolitan University assisted in preparation for the Law on Dual Study Models that was passed in 2019, as well as the necessary by-laws. It is now seeking companies that are interested in implementing a dual study model, in order for the first generation of future IT professionals to start their studies on 1st October this year

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he EU-funded Erasmus+ project “DualEdu” has helped to gather experience on the dual study model in different countries. On the basis of this, our experts were able to propose and design models that best suit the conditions of study and work in Serbia, explains professor Domazet.

• Belgrade Metropolitan University has been committed to dual education since its founding. How did you know 15 years ago that, in addition to theoretical learning, students also needed to have permanent work placement practise during their studies? How much did others fall into line behind you?

- We started with the Faculty of Information Technology in 2005, knowing that IT was a young scientific discipline that’s changing rapidly and covers a broad field of application. We concluded that it was essential for us

standards in computing. It’s because of this that our students don’t have a problem finding employment abroad.

• As Minister of Science, Technology and Development in the Government of Serbia from 2001 to 2004, you personally advocated for the closest possible cooperation between universities and industry, with the aim of developing innovation and technoentrepreneurship at universities. Why did no one recognise the importance of your initiative at that time?

- A certain level of conformism exists with many professors. It is easier to teach the same thing for years and deal with theoretical research, rather than applied and developmental research, when you are facing the harsh demands of industry. People don’t like change, and they generally only change if the circumstances compel them to do so. That’s why I believe that competition is

Healthy and stimulating competition is important in all fields of life and work, including education to work as closely as possible with IT firms, in order to quickly adapt to their needs, and that’s why we update our programmes every year by incorporating new technologies and new areas of application. Moreover, all of our programmes regularly comply with the recommendations of the American associations ACM / IEEE Computer Society, which represent the de facto international

important and that’s why I advocate for the open concept of the university, which - at least in some disciplines - needs to compete on the market of higher education globally.

Employers are the most competent to evaluate our quality, i.e. the quality of our graduates, and we need to develop future professionals together with them, by combining formal and non-formal education.

• Belgrade Metropolitan University is a partner of the Erasmus+ project “Implementation of Dual Education in Higher Education of Serbia - DualEdu”. Could you tell us more about this project?

- In a way, I actually launched this project, while the Ministry of Education supported it and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering accepted to be the coordinator. In the field of IT, after the second year of their studies many students start working for IT firms or independently, as freelancers, so some of them break from their studies and usually never complete them. This is not good for their careers, nor for their employers, nor for universities that are left with few students in their final years of study. In the dual study model, I found a “win-win-win” solution for students, IT firms and IT colleges. Students both study and work during the period of their studies. With this work during studies, they earn their investment in tuition from their employer and the earnings secured during their studies. The employer gains the specialist they need, universities don’t lose students, and students receive graduate diplomas and employment at the firm that they worked for during their studies. ■ MARCH

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BUSINESS ALEKSANDAR SEDMAK PH.D., FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,

UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE; DIRECTOR OF THE INNOVATION CENTRE OF THE FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, BELGRADE; VICE-PRESIDENT OF ESIS; PRESIDENT OF DIVK

The University of Belgrade Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is the oldest and largest higher education and scientific institution in our country in the field of mechanical engineering.

From day one it has also been the base of the development of mechanical science and industry in Serbia, and that is especially so today, when conditions for scientific research work are better than ever before

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peaking to CorD about improving links between the college and the economy, the faculty’s innovation centre, the application of new technologies, new study programmes, the increasingly important role of students in innovating the curriculum, the procurement of modern equipment, awards and many other projects is Aleksandar Sedmak Ph.D. • What kind of role is played by the Innovation Centre of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering?

- The main role of the Innovation Centre is to transfer technology and improve the college’s links with the economy. The carriers of these activities are Ph.D. students who are simultaneously also employees of the Innovation Centre through projects of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. A significant number of these young researchers participate in the teaching process, within the scope of departments in which they are pursuing their doctorates, thus enabling them to pass on 10 |

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The Economy Relies On Us newly acquired knowledge to students. This is especially true for master’s students, with remarkable cooperation in the preparation of master’s works.

To illustrate, I would like to cite some examples, whilst noting that this kind of collaboration in teaching innovation exists in all departments. The first example would be the demonstration and application of new technologies in the field of advanced manufacturing, which was realised thanks to the international NATO SPS (Science for Peace and Security) project, within the scope of which 3D printers and a modern material testing machine were provided. The second example is the measurement of deformations by a stereo-metric device (obtained via a competition of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development), which helped in the completion of a large

number of master’s works. Finally, ABAQUS, the strongest commercial software for simulating and solving complex engineering problems, which was also purchased with funds from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, is regularly used in this exceptional collaboration that the college has with its daughter firm.

• Which innovations in teaching have emerged from scientific research work?

- Based on many years of research, to mention only biomedical engineering, mechatronics and the application of information and communication technologies (ICT), not only is teaching significantly innovated, but new modules and departments have also been formed, often following a multidisciplinary trend that is increasingly present in the world’s leading universities.

In the field of ICT, we can boast of awardwinning master’s work, or a tractor platform for the spectrometric surveying of arable crops, equipped with sensors and tested in work on surveying corn.

We would emphasise in particular a new module in Master’s Studies, Industry 4.0, which has just started this semester, in collaboration with the Faculty of Mathematics, with the aim of preparing students to work in digitalised, automated and robotic processes. This programme was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development through a special competition for additional budgetary places, and apart from being based on the latest scientific research, it is extremely important due to cooperation with the economy.

• Then now is the right time to ask what’s new that’s been introduced to teaching due to the needs of the economy?

- Yes, and it is the right time to continue the story of Industry 4.0, as an example of good cooperation with the economy. It should be known that 95 per cent of IT companies in Serbia struggle to find the right staff, while they offer excellent conditions of employment. As such, topics like machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, which were until recently treated only as abstractions, have now become tangible, practical and of paramount importance.

We also monitor the needs of the economy in some classical disciplines, e.g. Welding, as a leading technology in the field of metal joining. With the support of company Messer Tehnogas, the Module for Welding and Welding Construction was established more than 10 years ago as a successful response to the real needs of the economy. This collaboration not only enables students to familiarise themselves with some of the most advanced technologies, but also to do their master’s work at the facilities of Messer Tehnogas, thanks to the dual education project that has been supported by GIZ. The aforementioned tractor platform for spectrometric surveys of arable crops is also a good example of cooperation with the economy, as are many other innovations that are applied in teaching.

• What kind of role do students have in innovating the teaching process?

- Until recently the answer to this question would be “very little” or “none”, and then, a few years ago, teams of students began competing in water, on the ground and in the air!

Can you even think of a better way of learning than to design and build prototypes of race cars, so-called “formulas”, both with SUS motors and electrically-powered engines, remote control ships and drones? It would be tough to devise better practical exercises in the fields of design, materials and production, vehicles, engines, aerospace engineering, shipbuilding, automated control etc.. From humble beginnings with just a few students 10 years ago, the known renowned “Drumska strela” student team has reached

• How are the labs of the college equipped; to what extent are they modernised and how accessible are they to students?

- In recent years we’ve witnessed dramatic progress in equipping college laboratories, with the help of MPNTR, HETIP IPA programs, donations from foreign governments, as well as cooperation with industry. Millions of euros have been invested in several laboratories, and we are especially grateful to the Government of Japan, a friendly state, and are proud of the Laboratory for Steam and Gas Turbines. This topic was also important during the visit of the audit team of the German ASIIN, which checked the quality of study programmes, and insisted in particular on laboratory work and visits to a large number of our laboratories, selected at random (steam and gas turbines, cybernetics

several dozen members who have this year qualified for four European competitions.

The Aurora missile team is working on the construction of autonomous aircraft with long ranges and minimal propulsion, while members of the “Beoavia” student team are designing and manufacturing drones. Finally, shipbuilding students have conquered the world with their cargo vessel and are now working on the design and construction of a solar ship.

As future shipbuilding engineers, members of the ‘Confluence Belgrade’ team are also working hard to build a new series of “Sava” and “Danube” ships. I should also mention that, until 10 years ago, every student initiative ended up on paper and remained forgotten somewhere, and just look where we are today.

and mechatronic systems, laboratories of the departments for engines, aero-tunnel, the biomedical engineering laboratory, pumps, hydraulic turbines, gears and hydro equipment, the design and automation of food equipment).

The fact that the faculty is already accredited and that this recent check confirmed the good work at all levels also clearly testifies to our laboratories being well-equipped, including computer halls that are always accessible to students. However, it should noted that we are only half way there... the cited examples of good practice do not mean that the equipment is accessible to students always and everywhere, as there are examples of where it is not used at all. The Faculty will devote special attention to this problem in the period ahead. ■ MARCH

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BUSINESS

ZORAN BUNDALO PH.D., DIRECTOR, HIGH RAILWAY SCHOOL OF VOCATIONAL STUDIES, BELGRADE, SERBIA

Our Time Is Yet To Come The High Railway School of Vocational Studies, Belgrade has been educating future staff for the needs of the railway for 63 years, while it additionally organises prestigious international scientific and professional consultations, participates in the development of studies, projects and research aimed at improving the development of rail transport in the country and the region

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n accordance with the current needs of the economy and society, and within the scope of the Academy of Technical and Artistic Vocational Studies of Belgrade, we will continue developing new study programmes that educate students for certain professional profiles for which a clearly expressed need exists, states professor Bundalo.

• The High Railway School of Vocational Studies, Belgrade was established as far back as 1957, when education courses lasted two years. How has the college and its programmes changed?

- There was initially only one department – Traffic – but in 2007 the School grew into the The High Railway School of Vocational Studies. Basic vocational studies are taught in five study programs: Railway Transport, Railway Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering inTransport, Commercial Railway Operations and Public Urban and Industrial Traffic. Vocational master’s studies are taught in three study programmes: Transport Engineering, Electrical Engineering in Transport and Commercial Operations in Transport.

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180 ECTS, while vocational master’s studies last an additional two years (four semesters) and carry 120 ECTS. • Interest in the The High Railway School of Vocational Studies among young people is growing year on year. Do you have the spatial capacity for all of them? What kind of working conditions do you offer them?

- In addition to personnel and the modernising of teaching, there have also been investments in space and equipment. Today we have an amphitheatre with 163 seats, six traditional classrooms, three computer suites and three laboratories, cabinets of teachers and associates, the spaces of the school’s professional services and a library. All classrooms are equipped with projectors that ease our work and the conducting of teaching, especially for applied vocational classes. We also have

several specialised equippedspaces for laboratory and experimental work – laboratories for physics and electrical engineering, energy, electronics and stable electric traction plants, computer laboratories, rooms with a specialised simulator of stationary settings and telecommunications control in rail traffic.

• You have eight study programmes, 2,000 square metres of space and the latest equipment, but how do you stand when it comes to staff; to lecturers?

- The school has 25 teachers who are employed on a full-time basis and cover over 80 per cent of classes. The scientific title of ‘doctor of science’ is held by 13 professors of vocational studies, while the academic title of ‘master of science’ is held by five lecturers. One teacher of practical courses and six teaching assistants hold the academic title of

Thanks to TEMPUS projects, we've improved the quality of studies and student services, and developed cooperation with numerous higher education institutions

‘master’. The remaining classes are covered by part-time teaching staff and associates from the business.

We are proud of the scientific research work of our lecturers that’s focused on writing textbooks, working on studies and major projects, publishing expert scientific articles, giving presentations at scientific gatherings in the country and abroad, writing reviews for textbooks and other professional literature, knowledge innovation, monitoring local and foreign professional literature in the relevant fields etc.

The school participated successfully in two TEMPUS projects, thanks to which it improved the quality of studies and student services, and developed cooperation with numerous foreign and domestic higher education institutions.

• Where do your students acquire practical knowhow? Do you have good cooperation with companies and other educational institutions?

- Our school has 57 contracts for business and technical cooperation with a large number of companies, higher education institutions and institutes both in the country and abroad. We collaborate with 11 railway companies from Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, with the Directorate for Railways of the Republic of Serbia, 23 faculties, institutes and colleges from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and the Russian Federation, as well as with 22 manufacturing, freight forwarding and logistics companies from Serbia and Croatia.

It is thus no surprise to anyone that our students quickly and easily find work upon graduation. Many of them also work in management positions, where they’ve proven to be successful holders of functions. It is an honour for us that our former students are now leaders of the railway profession on the railways of the former Yugoslav republics.

• You have a rich, bright history behind you, as well as a great future ahead of you. What kind of path has been outlined for the The High Railway School of Vocational Studies?

- Under the scope of the reform of higher education, the Government of the Republic

of Serbia’s decision of 29th August 2019 established a higher education institution called the Academy of Technical and Artistic Vocational Studies of Belgrade. A status change was made with the merging of five vocational higher schools - High School of Applied Railway Studies, the High School of Electrical Engineering and Applied Computer Studies, the High School of Vocational Studies for Information and Communication Technologies, the High School of Civil Engineering and Geodesy, and the High School of Applied Textile Studies for Design, Technology and

• Your vision extends beyond the borders of Serbia. Can you tell us more about that?

- Out vision is to achieve a unique relationship throughout the European higher education area, to attain the highest standards of quality in certain areas and to occupy a high place in the company of the best. The continuous process of perfecting our own resources and equipment increases the value and quality of our vision, even ahead of the demands of society.

In the process of realising our vision, we will expand our competences and comple-

We are proud of the more than 6,000 students who gained higher education diplomas with us and who today apply their knowledge and skills across the region

Management. This reform will streamline higher vocational education and contribute to ensuring a better and higher-quality education for young people.

For everything that it has achieved during the past 63 years, the High Railway School of Vocational Studies has reason to be proud.

In accordance with the current needs of the economy and society, and within the scope of the Academy of Technical and Artistic Vocational Studies of Belgrade, we will continue developing new study programmes that educate students for certain professional profiles for which a clearly expressed need exists.

ment them with partnerships with faculties and vocational colleges in the country and abroad, exchanges of teaching staff and students, and the joint implementation of projects, which leads to the gradual adopting of rules from the global education system.

Our tasks in the coming period are, primarily, to continuously innovate and modernise study programmes in accordance with the demands of the market for the personnel that we educate, the organising of expert meetings and the improving of research work alongside constant publishing. ■ MARCH

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BUSINESS MILICA VUKOTIĆ, PH.D., DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

AND TECHNOLOGIES UNIVERSITY OF DONJA GORICA, PODGORICA

UDG is the University For The Future Almost 13 years after its founding, the University of Donja Gorica operates on a campus of approximately 17,000m2, with five amphitheatres each containing more than 300 seats, a library with approximately 350 seats, around 800 computers, a laboratory, creative centre, art gallery, gym and much more

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DG’s mission is expressed through its motto “History of Future”, which practically means “producing the seed of the future”. By striving to respond with an innovative study model, UDG is dedicated to the student and to training them for both their professional rise and to be a responsible citizen of the globalised world.

• We are increasingly able to hear that the classic university is in crisis and that new generations and new times call for different study methods. What is your view on this?

- It is evident that the classical university format is today in crisis. Thus, the questions to be posed are: how can one study and live in a world of rapid changes; a world where complete uncertainty reigns? How should studies be organised for today’s student, who will change professions 7 to 10 times during their working life - unlike their parents, who perhaps 14 |

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changed jobs twice, and grandparents who retired at the same workplace where their working life began? Moreover, life expectancy is extended for these generations, so a question arises as to what to install in the foundations of students’ character, their knowledge and skills, their value system, so that these foundations endure that longevity. This is why educa-

UDG’s mission is expressed through its motto “History of Future”, which practically means “producing the seed of the future”. We try to respond with our innovative study model. First of all, more than any other university, UDG is dedicated to the student and to training them for both their professional rise and to be a responsible citizen of the globalised

Our students start getting used to being on top from the beginning, along with the realisation that the top is hard to reach, but even harder to stay on

tion is facing great challenges today, and why it finds itself at a major turning point!

The greatest danger is posed precisely by those reformers who know exactly how this process should be organised, how this new school and this University of the future should look.

world. The most rigorous professor at our university is the professor called life, which means that we don’t teach our students about life, rather we put them in a position to learn from life, to learn by living.

Unlike classical universities, which

mostly function according to the model A=K (Ability = Knowledge), we are developing our A=K*i2 model, where the variable ‘i’ means learning by living, which is the student’s intensity of life during his studies. One knows only what one has experienced and felt. We prepare students for the rapid changes and uncertainties that I mentioned, and we invest a lot in our students’ confidence and into their passion for learning. Our classes start on the 4th of July each year, with the famous Lovćen race and the Rector’s lecture at the top of Lovćen, in front of Njegoš. They start getting used to being on top from the beginning, along with the realisation that the top is hard to reach, but even harder to stay on.

• It is a fact that there is a certain prejudice against private education in this region. How do you see that and how do you fight against it?

- Yes, we are aware of that and the only way to fight against it is to show quality! First of all, it is important to note that two very distinguished professors from the State university, prof. Veselin Vukotić and prof. Dragan Vukčević, left their prestigious positions and founded the first faculties of what is today the University of Donja Gorica, as they believed in their idea and were convinced that they could create a system that would result in having young people capable of facing challenges in an increasingly challenging global business environment.

Almost 13 years later, we can say that they succeeded in this mission, and the main reason for this success is that quality was the priority from the very beginning.

I would like to note that we started from just a piece of land in a field in Donja Gorica. Today we operate on a campus dominated by the UDG building of approximately 17,000m2, which has a modern design with an emphasis on possibilities for students to stay all day. We have five amphitheatres, each with more than 300 seats, a library with approximately 350 seats, around 800 computers used in daily teaching, the laboratory for testing food

safety, a 3D laboratory, creative centre, art gallery, gym and much more. UDG has approx. 3,500 students and around 350 teachers and assistants from all continents, as it works on the principle of openness and cooperation with both the local and the global environment.

projects, as well as projects of the European Food Safety Agency etc. We are particularly proud that research teams gathered around the project themes and

Even after graduation, our students continue to have the same system of values in their respective business environments

• You mentioned international cooperation. Since you are a young university, do you have any problems participating in international projects?

- When it comes to research projects, both national and international, we are very proud of the results we are achieving. At the moment, whether in the role of partner or coordinator, the University of Donja Gorica is implementing over 40 projects, while about 50 project applications are in the evaluation phase. We are currently implementing projects from different programmes and are proud to highlight projects from H2020, IPA, Erasmus, Eureka, the World Bank, bilateral and national

activities are multidisciplinary, with the specific requirement that those teams always include the participation of junior researchers and students.

• You mention research projects and staff mobility. Do your students have the opportunity to participate in international exchanges?

- Our students have a very wide range of possibilities when it comes to international exchange, as well as international internships. There is a very small number of countries in Europe where our students have not had an opportunity to reside. Specifically, exchanges that MARCH

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are currently open are for Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and the UK. Besides Europe, there is a significant international exchange with universities and companies from China and the U.S. • A large number of events, both national and international, are organised at the UDG throughout the year, many of which have become traditional. Which of the events from the previous year would you like to single out?

- When it comes to traditional events, I would like to mention: Christmas discussions, where a current social topic is discussed, with prominent individuals from the region as speakers; Entrepreneurial Ideas Exchange, which is an event at which distinguished Montenegrin businessmen buy business ideas from students from the wider region; Factory of Knowledge, the biggest educational IT event in the region, organised together with Belgrade-based company Comtrade within the Days of Science week; as well 16 |

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The University of Donja Gorica allocates about half a million euros annually for scholarships to students

as the Free Market Road Show, which is a series of conferences held in over 40 European and American cities, organised by the Austrian Economic Centre.

I would like to further mention three events from the previous year. First, the opening of the Entrepreneurial Nest, which is our laboratory for awakening the spirit of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for all UDG students. Secondly, I would like to mention the conference on the importance of investing in early childhood development that was organised together with UNICEF. Lastly, I must point out the awarding of a grant for establishing the Centre of Excellence in food safety.

• You have already pointed out that your students work in highly responsible positions, both in the private and public

sectors, in the country and abroad. Does such success create an obligation? Or, to put it differently, is UDG a socially responsible university?

- UDG is very socially responsible. I am limited here by space, so I will just single out the fact that UDG, as a private university, allocates about half a million euros annually for scholarships to students (holders of the “Luca” diploma, tuition fee discounts for a second child and scholarships for third and every subsequent child from the same family; scholarships for students with disabilities, and sports scholarships). When it comes to sports scholarships, I would like to mention that we are sponsors of the Women’s Handball Club “Budućnost”, which has been a two-time European champion during the last ten years. ■

NATAŠA JOVANOVIĆ LJEŠKOVIĆ, DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF PHARMACY, NOVI SAD BUSINESS

We Educate Future Leaders Of The Profession The Faculty of Pharmacy, Novi Sad, the only accredited private Faculty of Pharmacy in Serbia, operates within the framework of the University Business Academy in Novi Sad. Our aim is to become recognised as a faculty which sets standards in the education of healthcare professionals for the 21st century

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he study programmes of the college are designed in accordance with European education standards and the needs of both the market and the profession. Students receive, on the one hand, a good foundation in knowledge, i.e. high-quality, currently relevant and innovative curriculum content, while on the other hand they have an optimal combination of theory and practise, as well as some additional skills.

• Your college was founded in 2012. What do all your programmes encompass today?

- The Faculty of Pharmacy, Novi Sad, is the only

with digital transformation taking hold in every segment of society, and thus also the healthcare profession. We are aware that today’s generations of young people need to be educated for many jobs that are yet to emerge. That’s why our goal is to prepare students for the jobs of the future, on the one hand by providing them with a sound basis in knowledge, i.e. high-quality, current, innovative teaching contents and, on the other hand, an optimal combination of theory and practise, as well as some additional skills.

Many of our professors are science Ph.D.s who have practical experience, so students can learn a lot about real-life situations from them accredited private faculty of pharmaceutical sciences in Serbia and has existed since 2012, when its integrated academic programmes of pharmacy and pharmaceutical-medical biochemistry in Serbian and English were accredited. In the meantime, we’ve also accredited vocational healthcare studies, specialist academic studies in cosmetology, and a Ph.D. programme.

• Your aim is to be recognised as a college that sets standards in the education of healthcare professionals for the 21st century...

- We live in a world that’s changing rapidly,

• Like other leading higher education institutions around the world, have you also placed an accent on practical skills?

- Yes, of course, we want to strike a good balance between theory and practise, and to educate generations of future healthcare professionals who will have a sound knowledge base, but also the ability to learn and connect in a real, professional environment. At the faculty we have a lot of hands-on teaching, which is conducted in small groups, thereby stimulating students to adopt functional learning and connect information. Then, through the career guid-

ance programme, students have an opportunity already during their studies to acquaint themselves with accomplished professionals and hear about professional opportunities and professional development. Moreover, through the compulsory subject of Professional Work Placement Practise, students can realise their practise in various sectors of their profession, such as pharmacies, hospitals, the industry, marketing and companies that deal with clinical research.

• How did your slogan “Faculty tailored to students, faculty of opportunities, faculty of the future” emerge?

- Our motto is to be a college tailored to the student and to individualise and adapt the teaching process as much as possible.

In addition to being available to them, we also know our students well. We introduced a concept of mentoring in which it is possible for the mentor to regularly monitor students and their progress, as well as their needs and talents.

The healthcare profession offers many opportunities and we are proud of the fact that our students already have the opportunity to learn about the possibilities of the profession.

We have a dynamic, ambitious team which is motivated for an educational opportunities and to provide a solid foundation for our students with aim to become responsible healthcare professionals ready for the challenges and market of the 21st century. ■ MARCH

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BUSINESS

BRATISLAV FILIPOVIĆ, FOUNDER AND INSTRUCTOR-COORDINATOR OF ACADEMY FILIPOVIĆ

Everything Starts With a Good Idea It was a decade ago that the programming workshop of the Filipović Academy introduced the complex programme of the 'School Information System', which permanently changed and improved the education process in Serbia. All its parts are being improved and further developed, to the general satisfaction of all participants in the education system

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he gratitude of teachers is the greatest reward for me and my colleagues, but also an incentive for us to be even better and more productive.

Everyone is aware of the benefits brought by using our applications and training, and that’s why we’re preparing around a dozen new programmes, announces Bratislav Filipović exclusively for CorD. • Has your ‘School Information System’ succeeded in modernising, improving and easing the work of all participants in the education system in Serbia?

- The main purpose and intention of the ‘School Information System’ is to mitigate, simplify and improve the work of all participants in the education system, from teachers in preschool institutions to the Minister. The applying of the E-documentation system has a number of advantages: simpler and faster recording of all forms of educational work, monitoring the implementation and development of educational work programmes, increasing the degree of efficiency in work, more effective monitoring of activities – the progress of children, improving communication with parents and all relevant factors.

The application represents a high-quality basis for the development and improvement of education and training in the develop18 |

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ment of skills for lifelong learning, such as self-confidence, openness, curiosity, perseverance and creativity. Our primary goal is to help users record their activities in all forms and purposes in a very simple way, as well as enable them to more easily access the data and reports that they need in their work. In designing the programme, we followed the legal framework, took into account the average computer literacy of personnel in education and adjusted the programme to the end user, whilst respecting all the imperative elements for the proper functioning of the programme.

• Which business processes are covered by your ‘School Information System’? What enables employees in educational institutions, professional services, parents, the Ministry etc.?

- The ‘School Information System’ contains parts that form one powerful whole: the ejournal that satisfies all standards, legal requirements, coverage of all types of schools and the implementation of IOP; the e-portfolio for teachers, students, heads of education; the Electronic Pedagogical Notebook, the Programme for Printing Testimonials, the PP service Programme, a platform for developing school websites and the E-Library. Programmes for the self-evaluation of schools and bulletin boards are under development.

In accordance with the latest technical possibilities, and taking into account the needs of preschool institutions, the narrowly specialised team of Academy Filipović has created a project to record, monitor and evaluate work programmes according to the latest model “Years of Takeoff” - E-nursery.

An electronic portfolio is a contemporary way of monitoring and recording the creativity and competencies of education staff. The Eportfolio has great potential in promoting the results of the work of employees in education and represents a good way of presenting results achieved by individuals and entire institutions.

This is much more than just a set of papers; it is a complete record of an employee’s development and advancement. Archived data can be accessed easily and the development path of teachers can be overviewed, and able to be accessed by colleagues, school management, parents and other interested parties. The E-portfolio programme in Serbia has been attended by 10,198 teachers from 951 schools, and it is also used by teachers from Montenegro and Republika Srpska. The programme is also adapted to school principals for personal portfolio records, with all standards and requirements for obtaining a director’s license.

• Your slogan is “A step ahead of everyone” and is based on the regular monitoring of

the needs of education employees. Are the directors and employees of institutions that cooperate with you at an advantage over others?

- One step ahead of everyone is reality, and not a simple phrase. We developed and implemented the electronic journal in schools in Serbia as far back as 2008; we perfected our programme by monitoring all legislative changes and developing it further, regardless of the fact that some

other programme was introduced to schools.

We started developing our electronic portfolio in 2013, and in 2015 we received international recognition for it - the first award in the field of education, DISKOBOLOS 2015.

We developed a platform for the creation of school websites in 2012, which is used today by about 200 schools, and in 2013 we created a programme for managing school libraries and it received the support of the Association of School Librarians of Serbia, as the best programme of its kind.

Today we hear about frameworks for the digital competences of teachers, electronic textbooks, digitalisation... and I can state freely and with pride that we at Academy Filipović laid those foundations, approaching the needs of the education system as research work, monitoring global trends and the development of IT. • How does your ‘School Information System’ differ from many other competing systems and programmes with the same and similar purposes?

- Several good programmes with a similar purpose exist in Serbia, which were developed at

more or less the same time, but we were slightly ahead in terms of ideas and problem solving, at least a step ahead. I can claim responsibly that only two companies in Serbia can compete seriously with our information system, apart from in the part of the Electronic Portfolio and electronic records of documentation in preschool institutions, where we are definitely without competition.

The actual end users of the system helped

tions, would return to the past; those who care only about money and not about people, knowledge, progress and freedom. We move ahead of those who are without ideas, those who are lagging behind us.

We want everyone to keep pace with the times, for us to give them guidance in recognising the benefits of progress, but in no way to forget tradition, history, and to take serious steps forward together, to preserve our

The information system that we've developed is the best in the region and is useful to all participants in the education system us in the development of the programme and in finding the right solutions; the teachers, who set tasks for us, sought that we free them from bureaucracy and writings various documents that are in many cases unnecessary or useless.

• Increasing the quality of education and training is among the priorities of developed countries and societies. How is this achieved?

- At Filipović Academy everything starts with a good idea. We monitor contemporary world trends, carry out the selection of ideas and plan their implementation. We care about education. We care about people and they recognise that. We seek good people who can implement good ideas, making them visible and accessible. We are going a step ahead of everyone, even though we are tripped up by those who, with their actions and considera-

achievements, but also to promote a correlation between the modern and the traditional.

• The seminars of Academy Filipović have been implemented in several hundred schools across Serbia in recent years, attended by thousands of education workers. Do you have any new accredited programmes?

- Sixteen years of hard work, 52 accredited seminars and 47,000 satisfied attendees, for whom we have provided knowledge and necessary skills, their gratitude and appreciation are the motivation for us to continue on, for us to be even better and more productive.

We monitor trends, research and are preparing around a dozen new programmes for the next accreditation period. We also have two seminars accredited in Montenegro. One of them is the ‘Electronic Teacher’s Portfolio’. ■ MARCH

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FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FUTURE EDUCATION

New Knowledge For A New Era

The Fourth International Conference on Future Education was held in mid-November at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade.

Attended by 93 lecturers from 28 countries from all parts of the world, participants also included prominent scientists from prestigious universities and international organisations

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umerous relevant research works show that 400 million existing jobs will disappear by 2030, but that by then over 260 million people will be doing jobs that don’t exist today. The participants of the Conference agreed that, as such, the educational system must change, from the preschool to postgraduate levels.

The fourth international conference on future education, one of the most important events from the end of 2019, was held on 12th and 13th November on the premises

of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in the Serbian capital. The conference was organised by the Association of Economists of Serbia, in cooperation with the World Academy of Art & Science, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the University of Belgrade and the Serbian Chapter of the Club of Rome, and was attended by 93 lecturers from prestigious universities and organisations in 28 countries.

Conference discussions addressed the development of the basic principles of a new paradigm in education, the speed, scale and complexity of the challenges facing global society, but also the transformational changes in preparing future generations for life in a rapidly evolving unified global society. The conference was opened by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, wiith the keynote speeches delivered by academic Vladimir Kostić Ph.D., president of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and Garry Jacobs, president and CEO of the World Academy of Art & Science and co-chair of the event’s programming board.

“I believe that the only a society that is founded on knowledge, innovation, culture and creativity, as a society of freethinking individuals, can also be developmental. I believe that, during the term of this Government, we have initiated all educational reforms necessary for us

GARRY JACOBS, WAAS PRESIDENT, NEBOJŠA NEŠKOVIĆ, WAAS SECRETARY GENERAL, AND VLADIMIR KOSTIĆ, SASA PRESIDENT

The first conference was held in Berkeley in October 2013, the second in Rome in November 2017, and the third in Rio de Janeiro in November 2018 “The goal of the education system is to teach young people how to think, and not what to think, and not to be afraid of pushing boundaries,” said Serbian Prime Minister Brnabić speaking at the opening of the International Conference on Future Education.

She stressed that this is why the Government of Serbia is investing in education and primarily in modern technologies, for which almost 100 million euros has already been earmarked for investments in infrastructure, innovation, research and the development of start-ups.

Vlahović, president of the Union of Economists of Serbia, one of the organisers of the Conference. He emphasised that certain studies show that 400 million existing jobs will disappear by 2030 and that by then over 260 million people will be doing jobs that don’t exist today.

to prepare young people for the jobs of the 21st century. High-speed internet has been introduced to 500 schools, and a budget has already been set for another 500 schools in 2020. The goal is for our schools to be fully digitalised by 2021, and there are currently 10,000 existing digital classrooms that are used by about 200,000 students across Serbia,” said PM Brnabić, adding that the changes taking place are swift and comprehensive, and that Serbia is responding to them.

Also stressing the need for reforms in Serbian education was Aleksandar

Honorary President of the World Academy of Art & Science, Heitor Gurgulino de Souza, noted the insufficient number of teaching staff globally as a particular challenge and emphasised that 236 million children are currently outside the education system. According to him, it is a worrying statistic that only 14 per cent of children in less developed countries complete secondary education. Speaking at the Future Education Conference, he estimated that 48 per cent of basic skills for any job will need to be upgraded by 2022.

“It is already known that a higher level of knowledge and better skills for each individual will be required. If we want to have a knowledge-based economy, then the education system must play a key role in that process, as a key factor,” he stressed, adding that demand MARCH

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follow our presentations. That’s why we need to interest them, but the typical, traditional lectures by professors will not help in reaching them. Every university is trying to position itself as best it can, to get to grips with changes and transform itself to satisfy the current needs of students and society. We don’t know what the future will be like, but we are stepping boldly into the unknown,” said Popović.

As she stated, the most important thing is for school pupils and college students to acquire the broadest ppossible generic knowledge that will allow them to adapt to whatever the future is.

“An active, interdisciplinary teaching method based on identifying and resolving problems will help in this process. The University of Belgrade is a comprehensive university with intensive research that takes seriously its responsibility for the exists globally for highly educated staff and that hundreds of new students should enrol in universities over the next 15 years.

It was assessed at the Conference that globalisation could prove to be one of the most fundamental challenges that universities have faced in their entire history. The new concept of the knowledge economy points to the need to direct the educating of students towards the development of skills and competences for the global workplace. Education must enable individuals to improvise, use information independently, become better team players and solve complex problems; it must prepare them for a non-linear career path and for the completing of tasks for which they weren’t originally trained. That’s why universities should be the key place for the synthesis of educational and research activities.

“The very idea of science may have to be reconstructed, because the new paradigms of knowledge production are primarily characterised by the importance of context, not only in terms of 22 |

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Education is the most enlightened institution humanity has created. This is the place which has to show humanity the path to a better future the final application of science, defining scientific problems and selecting an appropriate methodology, but rather also redefining relevant, usable knowledge,” noted academic Vladimir Kostić Ph.D., President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

“Our graduates must be qualified for their profession. Upon graduating from university, young people need to be experts and, even more importantly, they need to be able to consider solve problems,” stated Ivanka Popović, Ph.D., Chancellor of the University of Belgrade.

She stressed that teachers and professors today face great challenges, as children are shaped by the digital world.

“Our pupils and students are accustomed to new forms of communication, the question is whether they are able to

development of students,” concluded the University of Belgrade Chancellor.

The notion of education and the question of what it means to be a learned citizen are changing with the development of innovation, shifting demographics and changes in our environment, compelling us to reconsider tried and true concepts that previously applied to education and educated people.

“Critical thinking, communication, a sense for the changes in the world around us and the ability to solve problems by using new technologies influence the goals of educators from pre-school to post-graduate studies. Close collaboration must exist between all actors in the education process, in order for students to get the most,” explained Sue Henderson, president of the University of New Jersey. ■

BELGRADE OPEN SCHOOL BUSINESS

Civil Society Organisation Belgrade Open School (BOS) Cooperation between civil society and the business sector - how to turn challenges into new opportunities?

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he Belgrade Open School (BOS), as a civil society educational organisation, has spent almost three decades dealing with the development of human resources, the improvement of public policy and the empowerment of the civil, public and business sectors, with the aim of building a better society based on freedom, knowledge and innovation.

Improving cooperation between the business and civil sectors in Serbia is one of the issues in the focus of the work of the BOS. This cooperation has to date often been limited to donations and sponsorships, rather than extending to the pursuit of shared development goals and a joint approach to decision makers and the general public. The political and economic challenges that we face as a society have a significant impact on the business world, but also on various organisations in which citizens realise their right to unite around common goals, which we refer to in short as civil society.

This was actually what prompted BOS to launch the “Integration Innovation” initiative, which aims to create new opportunities for civil society and the business sector to engage in public policy making and advocacy.

Resolving the important issues of social development requires the involvement of both parties. Monitoring and supporting the reforms brought by European integra-

tion and working towards the achieving of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals represent a great opportunity for the two sectors to collaborate, which will bring the greatest benefit to citizens.

Many European examples show us that major positive changes in society were solved precisely through the mutual cooperation of all stakeholders. Making this cooperation tangible and creating a common vision are BOS’s priorities in the period ahead.

A good example of cooperation with the business world is provided by the activities of the Belgrade Open School aimed at amending the legal framework for implementing internships. Internships are short-term programmes for gaining work experience that aim to improve the employability and employment of interns. This primarily refers to internships performed by the unemployed after the completion of their studies, because other forms of work-based learning, which are an integral part of the education process, are subject to regulations in the field of education.

BOS has been working strategically for many years to advance public policies in the field of improving youth employability, always taking care to ensure the involvement of all three sectors of society: public, business and civil. Cross-sector cooperation in the field of improving the

quality of internships is extremely important, both for young people entering the labour market through internships and for employers. Internships have numerous positive effects on the employability of young people, such as reducing the time it takes to move from education to the labour market, then improving knowledge, skills and competences. Through internships, young people gain the more than necessary experience and explore career opportunities and options.

Despite the confirmed positive effects that internships have on employability, numerous obstacles hinder the implementing of quality internships in Serbia. No precise legal solutions currently exist, nor by-laws governing internships for the unemployed – those who practise with their employer after completing formal education. Companies are often in a dilemma over which kind of contract to sign with interns. This situation impacts on both young people and employers, who find it more difficult to opt for internship programmes because they are not entirely sure of their obligations and rights. The Belgrade Open School, together with the business sector, proposes measures and solutions for improving the legal framework, which should create conditions for high-quality internships, after which we will have empowered young people and satisfied employers. ■ MARCH

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BUSINESS RALF NAEVE, DIRECTOR OF THE GERMAN SCHOOL OF BELGRADE CHRISTOPH CZETTL, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE GERMAN SCHOOL OF BELGRADE

From Pre-School To Post-Diploma RALF NAEVE

Since 1864, when the German School in Belgrade was first established, many parents have entrusted their children to the hands of its staff and educators, confident that their children would be challenged by an academic education that would open them up to unlimited opportunities in any field of science, economy or even craftsmanship

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nterest in a German education remains unabated today, allowing graduates to gain access to universities all over the world and promising that students are invited and taught not only to reproduce knowledge, but also to question any given content, to think critically and to create an individual perspective. The “Deutsche Schule Belgrad” (DSB – German School of Belgrade) feels bound to the general principles of German education and has more to offer, as we discovered when conversing with the new headmaster, Mr Ralf Naeve, and head of the school board, Mr Christoph Czettl.

• Why should parents opt for DSB? C.C: The German School of Belgrade offers a perfect mix of tradition and wellestablished educational goals, with the courage of modernisation. We try to use the best of the experience amassed by our German colleagues, coming from all over Germany, and to combine it with the knowhow of Serbian teachers. If we wanted to describe it in stereotypes, one could say that we have the opportunity to fuse German orderliness with Serbian passion 24 |

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– and this seems to be a perfect match for learning and for life .

R.N: And let me add that this can be convincing at the rational level, but we are a small school and with our approach we try to convince the parents and students that every single person is important to our school community and we care! We know many of our students from kindergarten to graduation, and are therefore able to accompany and support them in a very individual way.

• How do parents react to your approach?

R.N: First of all, families are interested

CHRISTOPH CZETTL

an easy transition from German schools and back. But more and more parents seem to value our conviction that learning is based on good relationships. They treasure our smaller classes and opportunities to promote individually. And, of course, the reputation of high requirements is still present.

• Who enrols in the German school?

C.C: We have families from all over the world. There are families from Germany, Austria or Switzerland – often related to embassies or companies doing business in Serbia. There are also Serbian families with a

Besides our lessons and our extracurricular activities, we promote a sense of responsibility, intercultural exchange, democratic values and an awareness of acting and thinking in a sustainable way in the German language, the German culture and the German school-leaver certificate, which enables entrance into any university in Europe. German families that are not resident in Serbia permanently want to ensure

close connection to Germany. Often at least one of the parents was raised in a Germanspeaking country. Additionally, there are a lot of families from all over the world that trust the German education system. And,

of course, there are many Serbian families who enrol their children in the German kindergarten and German School in order to learn German and graduate with the opportunity to attend any European University.

• You were talking about tradition and well-established educational goals – besides Goethe, Schiller etc., what more do students learn?

R.N.: German Curricula are not only marked by traditional knowledge. In any

subject, in any situation at school, we want to offer opportunities to learn for life, to overcome individual boundaries and to find out about individual talents. Besides our lessons and our extracurricular activities, we promote a sense of responsibility, intercultural exchange, democratic values and an awareness of acting and thinking in a sustainable way.

• What are the prospects of the DSB? C.C.: We feel that we have a great baseline. Our building has been “recently” reconstructed. Our school board has worked intensively to set up a strategy for the future.

The Administration is continuously optimising processes and our teaching staff is highly motivated and very well experienced.

• So, what are the next steps?

C.C.: We are about to move the kindergarten and preschool class to a new building, in order to meet the requirements of expansion.

We are also planning to set up a new building for the primary school.

R.N.: Additionally, besides optimising

hardware, we constantly improve our teaching methods in order to meet the individual needs of our students and prepare them for the future. Buzzwords, such as digitalisation, human values, or individualisation, need to be transformed into classroom action.

• Why is the German school represented by its headmaster and the head of its school board?

C.C.: The German school is a private school that’s supported by the German

financial requirements. In short, one could say that we are a successful and prospering school because the school board and headmaster collaborate in such a trusting, respectful and responsible way. One of the key elements of our success is that all our decisions are based on a constant exchange with students, teachers, parents and the

One of the key elements of our success is that all our decisions are based on a constant exchange with students, teachers, parents and the administration – so that everyone in the school community is included and able to take responsibility government. One could say that the headmaster, who comes from Germany, is the representative of Germany, while the head of the school board represents the many families supporting the school with their tuitions, but that is only a broad picture.

In theory, there is a strict division of responsibility. The headmaster is in charge of educational activities, while the school board secures financial affairs. We knew from the first day of our collaboration that there was a need for constant communication. Values that are supposed to be taught and modelled in the classroom must also be supported and equally modelled by the school board members. In that same way, the headmaster needs to meet and consider

administration – so that everyone in the school community is included and able to take responsibility.

• If you had to describe your school in one sentence…: R.N.: Don’t ask a teacher to explain something in one sentence; we are used to many, many words. Well, in Germany there is a saying: “Klein aber fein,” which could be translated as “small but excellent”. However, considering our first questions, I am tempted to say: tradition meets the modern spirit.

C.C.: Taking into account the enthusiasm, spirit and support provided by the families and the school board, I would put it in very simple words: We love school. ■ MARCH

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BUSINESS FERDINAND AYEN, CEO OF ERNST KLETT PRÄSENZLERNEN OSTEUROPA GMBH – PROVIDER OF KLETT DUAL IN SERBIA PREDRAG KOVAČIĆ, MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING MANAGER AT GRUNDFOS

Dual Education Is A Strong Tool The Klett DUAL programme has two major advantages - it offers a comprehensive package of practical and theoretical knowledge, which is useful for people changing professions and seeking to gain practical knowledge.

Another major point is the opportunity to gain a special, specific vocation

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eveloping new educational formats – to combined mid-length vocational courses for individual students with the active mentoring of company partners – is a solution made in Serbia and made for Serbia. That is a way to help cope with the new reality of demand-driven labour markets.

• What reflects the significance of dual education and vocational schooling? How important are they for the individual, for students; how important for companies and how important for local communities and society as a whole?

Mr Ayen: In Serbia, as well as in many other countries throughout Europe, we face a massive shift from supply-driven to demand-driven labour markets. The reasons are well-known: demography, emigration and a long trend of preferring academic education over vocational education. All these factors constantly 26 |

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reduce the pool of skilled workers. To put it bluntly: head-hunters and HR departments no longer search for managers, rather technicians and hotel clerks.

As for the question of the importance of vocational education for companies, communities and society, I would like to respond with a question: who is actually running all that? Who is producing our goods, who is welcoming us to hotels, who is repairing cars and who is capable of maintaining production systems? Society owes much to its workers, and Ernst Klett DUAL knows how to contribute to their qualifications.

Mr Kovačić: The ability to change, nowadays, means the difference between success and failure. Education is one of the

major fields to provide the ability to adapt quickly. Dual education is a strong tool for that purpose. It provides individuals with a fast and efficient way to increase their knowledge and become competent with the most important skills nowadays. While learning, students will acquire practical knowledge that’s connected directly to theoretical points.

An additional important point to applying changeability is the usage of rare resources. The labour force has become quite a scarce resource in Europe recently.

The utilisation of the existing workforce has started to be one of the most important activities for companies that also operate in Serbia. On top of that, scarce resource

cost effectiveness comes as a relevant factor. Dual education supports the solving of both of these challenges, through practical training that fits the need and hits the demand for jobs.

Government and local communities are also interested parties, trying to ensure a good working environment for all business purposes. Together with infrastructure, the available skilled workforce is among the top interests where dual education can play a key role in ensuring skills that respond to the needs of the market.

• To what extent are the programmes of Klett DUAL tailored to the needs of the market and employers in Serbia?

Mr Ayen: Our approach is easy to comprehend and based on solid, dual-education didactics. We have developed a variety of learning situations for each of our programmes, in which the students solve specific professional problems. Each learning situation lasts one to three full days, and they are usually designed in advance by our expert development team. If changes are necessary, we can implement them very fast. Our partner Grundfos Serbia, for instance, needed to adjust two of these learning situations to their needs, so we sat together with their technical staff and developed a tailor-made solution for electrical engineering. Employers could use this knowledge immediately in their production process.

Based on intensive research of market needs, we started last year with Mechatronics and will continue in the first half of 2020 with several programmes: Hospitality Management and Welding, as well as Language courses. We thereby always address two customer groups: companies and individual students.

Mr Kovačić: There are two major advantages of the Klett DUAL programme. It offers a comprehensive package of practical and theoretical knowledge, which is useful for people changing professions or in eliminating the deficiencies of the practical part of the public education system. Another major point is an opportunity to gain a special, specific vocation. The education system can give general education and fill the most needed working positions. The diversity of job roles creates a need for

specific education, and that is something that Klett DUAL provides very effectively, through tailored professional education programmes. At the Grundfos Srbija production plant we have allocated a long list of different skills that are needed. Additionally, taking into consideration various industries, I believe that the significance of tailored programmes in acquiring skills offers huge opportunities and tangible advantages, for both companies and individuals.

Having such partnerships, we at Klett DUAL also have the opportunity to develop new educational formats.

One recent idea is to offer combined mid-length vocational courses (6-9 months, school-based) for individual students, with the active mentoring of company partners. That would be a solution made in Serbia and made for Serbia, to help cope with the new reality of demand-driven labour markets.

Partnership is everything for dual education, especially partnerships with companies like Grundfos • How important is partnership with specific companies to the dual concept of work that makes Ernst Klett DUAL Serbia unique in the region? In what is it reflected?

Mr Ayen: Partnership is everything, especially partnerships with companies like Grundfos, whose factory in Inđija is most impressive and incredibly well-run.

We listen to our partners, and we help to solve their problems.

Just recently, Mr Kovačić and representatives of PepsiCo and Tönnies joined us when German Ambassador Schieb and Mrs Piplica, Head of the embassy’s economic division and first secretary, visited our training centre in Belgrade. I can state with pride that our partners provided extremely positive feedback on our courses and partnership.

Mr Kovačić: For us at Grundfos Srbija, employees are the most important asset. Our journey started with the first education programme, mechatronics. The employees who attended the programme rated it as the best education programme they’ve applied in their life.

We continued with the allocation of key company needs and the creation of an appropriate plan of education.

Successfully stepping from one point to another, followed by great satisfaction and unconditional support in all aspects of cooperation and flexibility to adapt to our needs, convince us that we have a real partner on whom we can rely in solving these most sensitive topics and providing the best possible solution. ■ MARCH

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BUSINESS

GORAN JANKOVIĆ, INMOLD CEO

Practice Is Gained In The Field Požega-based company Inmold, which deals with the manufacturing of IML robots and sophisticated tools, stops the outflow of young people from Western Serbia. The company has, for almost a decade, been providing scholarships to high school pupils and mechanical engineering students, which has increased interest in manufacturing work and the mechanical engineering profession among young people

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he education system should make a departure from offices and electronic communications and try to understand the practises and needs of private employers on the ground.

Only in this way can healthy, spontaneous cooperation be established between two diametrically opposed systems, notes Goran Janković.

• Inmold emerged as a family-owned company that quickly became one of the backbones of the economic development of Western Serbia. Are you satisfied with the speed of your development and progress?

- In a very short space of time, we grew from a mini-company with 25 employees into a medium-sized company that today has more than 300 employees. That’s similar to when a pubescent child suddenly sprouts and outgrows its peers, which may initially seem powerful and amazing, but a longer time is needed for that same child to mature and assume its rightful place.

That’s how we also plan to stabilise at this level for a certain period of time, and then continue conquering new markets and new products, as well as significantly increasing employee numbers.

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• You deal with the production of highquality injection moulding tools for plastics and non-ferrous metal. Do young people avoid manufacturing occupations? Are there enough engineers, managers and lawyers in Western Serbia?

- I think that the trend of avoiding manufacturing occupations is waning; that young people with a healthy manufacturing example in their environment are increasingly and more easily opting for professions in the mechanical engineering sector. This was not the case 10 years ago. Then it was shameful to be a worker, as everyone wanted to work

Schools for almost 10 years. What professions are they studying for? How do you motivate them to take up employment with you? Do you have scholarship recipients?

- We first got involved in this process of educating children for mechanical engineering professions nine years ago. These are future computer control technicians, locksmiths and mechatronics technicians, and today there are fewer children in nonmechanical engineering majors, such as a computer engineering.

We endeavour to provide secure a pleasant environment for children to stay

Scholarships that high school pupils receive during their schooling represent excellent motivation for every young and diligent person in management, while today there are young manufacturing engineers who are seeking a chance to show what they can do where they live and were born.

• You have been implementing a programme for training pupils of Secondary Technical

in our company. With us, they have mentors who take care of them, teaching them to be safe, meticulous and professional in their jobs. We also organise educational visits to other companies in the area for them, recreational trips abroad, visits to fairs and many other contents in the area of

recreation, such as swimming, paintball etc..

During their schooling, they receive a scholarship from us that is very good motivation for a young and diligent person. In an environment where incomes are low, that can also be a significant help and contribution to the home budget, so the children feel like very helpful and valuable family members. In this way they learn to be household leaders, family people that set an example in their environment.

• How do you see dual education? How can it be improved and made even more attractive for young people?

- It is a shame that the dual education we had 50 years ago didn’t resist the whirlwind of time and the painful events imposed on us. What we had, and what was destroyed, is again imposing itself as a necessity, because without the youth it is impossible to conquer markets today or in the future. It is not necessary to calculate much, but rather to strive in every way to keep the youth here, and not have them leave the country.

Youngsters need to be understood and in no way compelled to live the life of our youth.

We older folks need to enter their lives, to listen to what pleases young people, to listen to their opinions and share emotions with them honestly. We wonder how possible that is in the accelerated way of living and doing business, but where there’s a will there’s a way. Children should be loved, understood and taught true values of life, listened to and shared with.

• Can entrepreneurs, as future employers, influence school curricula, profiles and directions? They best know what kind of staff they need.

- The voice of entrepreneurs and employers needs and must be ranked first by an educator when he outlines his needs. That other side of education needs to be addressed as quickly and creatively as possible, so that businessmen are satisfied. Unfortunately, the great sluggishness of the education system is being drawn legislatively into the entrepreneurial system, with forms, papers and requirements to do as they have have devised it in an office setting.

That seems unsustainable to me, which is why it has to be done differently. That which is theoretical should and can be done by teachers in classrooms, while everything else, everything practical, should be done with entrepreneurs.

Thus, a private employer should define his needs, and the education system should secure that for him. And it should not be

- Those responsible are mainly interested in our opinion via emails, the passive gathering of statistics, meetings that serve only to satisfy form, and it would be good for this to change in the way I stated above.

We go out of our way to meet the needs of

The dual education that we had 50 years ago didn't resist the whirlwind of time, but now it is again imposing itself as a necessity

that an entrepreneur acts in the function of education according to their curriculum of education from bygone times. The education system should make a departure from offices and electronic communications and try to understand the practises and needs of private employers on the ground. Only in this way can healthy, spontaneous cooperation be established between two diametrically opposed systems.

• Do competent staff at the Ministry of Education show an interest in the opinions and needs of potential employers?

Do you, as a businessmen, listen to the needs and desires of pupils, as your future employees?

our scholarship recipients and our staff if they express a desire and need to further their studies and acquire higher education qualifications. We link up with colleges and agree on the best way for a young, employed person to most effectively educate themselves further in the current system.

Another way is to organise seminars within the framework of the company and in this way we award internal and practical qualifications that are essential for the better performing of demanding jobs within our company. We internally teach them the necessary knowledge and skills that are required on a daily basis at work.

We strive to work and learn the essentials, setting form aside. ■ MARCH

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BUSINESS IVICA DIMITRIJEVIĆ, FOUNDER AND CEO OF COMPANY UNISTYLE AND DELUX STYLE

Young People Need Practise

The architects and craftsmen of Swiss company UniStyle, which covers a wide range of interior design services, are responsible for the appearance of many luxury homes and offices across Europe, but those interiors would not be so valued and special if it weren't for furniture made in Niš

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would like to see all businessmen in Serbia understand that they need to invest in young people, that they need to train workers who will be able to produce goods for even the world’s most demanding markets. I hope that Delux Style will receive its first pupils from the Grdelica Carpentry Secondary School as of this autumn, reveals this company’s founder and CEO Ivica Dimitrijević • You’ve lived and worked in Switzerland for 22 years, and for the last five you’ve been running your own successful company, UniStyle. What motivated you to launch your own business?

- Enthusiasm, a need for innovation, but also sophisticated taste all motivated me to establish UniStyle in June 2015, as a company that covers a wide range of services in the fields of design, furniture production and interior design. We also opened a showroom after two years and we are very proud of it because it’s a place that inspires everyone to delve into the world of top design.

Furniture based on our needs, according to our ideas and the designs of our architects and designers, was produced for us by various companies, but we were not completely satisfied with that, so in 2016 we founded Delux Style in Niš. We started 30 |

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with three workers and a 300-square-metre workshop, while today we have 1,500 square metres and 16 employees. We also have our own design bureau and paint shop, but also a constant need for new workers. A hiring call is always open with us.

• Is there any interest? Is it easier to find a good architect or a good craftsman?

- Believe it or not, it’s easier to find an architect and a designer than a good carpenter and a good painter. Young people have been avoiding manufacturing professions for years, and older craftsmen have become rigid after 20, 30 years and generally don’t want to learn, adapt and improve their knowhow.

Having learned from my experience in Switzerland, which has one of the world’s best dual education models, I last year expressed an interest, via the Chamber of Commerce, in including Delux Style in the youth education programme. I hope that our head of production and one of our craftsmen will acquire the necessary licenses by the coming autumn and that the pupils of the Carpentry Secondary School in Grdelica will start work placement practise with us from the start of the next school year.

This would really be an opportunity for them to learn a trade, to become the kind of workers for the 21st century that

are in short supply in Serbia have, securing a certain future for themselves. For us it would be an opportunity to gain access to young professionals and top workers. That is my wish and my goal - to invest in young people, to develop my company and to help in the development of Serbia.

• The Swiss are diligent, meticulous and demanding. What is it like to work there?

How is their model of dual education?

- It was form them that I learned to pay attention to details, to every little thing. That’s why what we do as UniStyle is recognised for its top quality and top design. We leave nothing to chance. We monitor world trends, especially in Italy, which is unrivalled, and we insist on the high-quality of our work and the furniture we provide, because that is demanded.

Thanks to their great dual education programme, the Swiss have top craftsmen.

There children on three-year educational programmes spend four days a week at firms and only one day learning theory in classrooms. That’s why they’re ready to work as soon as they complete their schooling.

They are motivated, which makes them good workers, and that is good for everyone. This is a model that we need to apply in Serbia and I will provide that with as much strong support as I can. ■

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BUSINESS

MILENA LOPUŠINA, FOUNDER OF MIND LABORATORY

The Most Successful Learn Constantly The training courses and workshops of MIND LABoratory are based on the NLP [neuro-linguistic programming] methodology and other knowhow from psychology, management and HR. Educating young people is based on their preparation for a job, a career and life, while businesspeople are provided with powerful tools that help them do their jobs to the highest level

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ur employers prefer to invest in formal education, financing studies and the like, rather than in the training, instructing and personal development of employees. On the other hand, employees didn’t care much about training either, but things are slowly changing for the better.

• Did MIND LABoratory – as an agency for education, consulting and management – emerge out of your personal desire and need for training and education?

- MIND LABoratory is indeed a product of my desire to constantly improve. I believe deeply that knowledge is the greatest wealth and that the learning process never ends.

The training courses that I organise are the best opportunity to share the knowledge that I’ve gained, but also to upgrade it. I’m convinced that we can learn something new from everyone and that during these training courses I am both a student and a teacher.

A person should devote themselves to that which they genuinely love, to invest their entire self and to be the best at that. This is achieved through constant work on self, a willingness to accept our weaknesses and to work in order to overcome them.

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• You created the agency as an accomplished person, because at that time you already had both a formal education and enviable work experience. What were you lacking?

What do both young people and experienced businesspeople lack today?

- Today, from this perspective, I consider that at the beginning of my career I lacked flexibility in work and the ability to better manage my emotions, so – like most businesspeople today – I had to deal with the work burnout syndrome.

I wouldn’t want to generalise, but young people mainly lack motivation and interest in further learning, with a certain amount of fear and a lack of confidence present.

I also often encounter the problem of focusing. A very small percentage of young people know what they want and few of them have clear goals.

On the whole, businesspeople lack empathy, on the one hand, while on the other hand they are quite unfamiliar with how to organise their time and manage stress.

Unfortunately, there is also only a small percentage of people dedicated to continuous improvement in the business world. An insignificant number of companies invest in their employees, while the

majority treat such allocations as a cost or don’t even consider this possibility.

• Is it true that a college diploma is of little value today without self-confidence, a good performance, social intelligence and soft skils?

- I really believe that knowledge is power and in no way would I undermine the value and importance of a university degree. Business success is impacted 15% by intelligence and 85% by optimism, the support of other people and clearly set goals. If someone lacks self-awareness, self-confidence, empathy, a capacity to make decisions and communication skills, that person is incomplete.

Alongside this, we should in now way overlook tireless learning – as one of the basic characteristics of successful people.

• You spent years working in the hospitality industry, as part of middle, senior and top management. What are the problems facing the workforce in that industry? How much do hotel owners and managers invest in employees? How interested employees are themselves in additional education and training?

- The biggest problem in the hotel industry

is a shortage of workers. Due to a shortfall of service staff, they resort to recruiting non-professional and incompetent people.

Statistics show only only around seven per cent of hoteliers invest in their employees, which - you will agree - is a very small percentage. On the other hand, as I know from experience, many employees regularly attended training courses that are organised for them, but they generally only see that as another work obligation.

The general conclusion is that employees rarely opt for education on their own initiative, and another problem is the large fluctuation of staff, which impacts negatively on teamwork and produces poorer results.

Of course, we should also mention the generally unsatisfactory working conditions in the hotel industry (low wages, high levels of stress, overtime requirements etc.).

• Thanks to the natural shift of generations, we are also slowly becoming aware of the importance of continuous, lifelong learning. In which industries is this idea most easily “received”?

- Probably in science generally.Technology and its rapid innovations are becoming ever more widely applied in all industries... I wouldn’t single out anything in particular. On the whole, major global companies are bringing this trend to our country. Domestic firms recognise the importance, but are reluctant to allocate funds for these purposes. I see the reason for that in relations between the general culture, awareness and economic opportunities in the country and the surrounding area.

• Investing in knowledge and the development of skills of employees is seen in our country as an expense, and not as an investment. Is that also changing? How willing are we to learn about communication, interpersonal relationships, teamwork, conflicts resolution methods etc.?

- Things are changing, but quite slowly.

Practises to date have shown that employers prefer to invest in formal education through retraining, financing studies etc., rather than in non-formal forms of education. There is a neglecting of the fact that people spend a third of their day at work and that it is very important that they utilise their time

in a high quality way and without stress.

And it is precisely healthy communication and good interpersonal relationships that contribute to better teamwork and better business results. It’s not enough to just bring people together, but rather it is necessary to work on empowering them individually and as a team.

It is necessary to encourage employees to think in the most diverse ways in order to find the most creative solutions to a particular problem or to improve some production process. This is achieved precisely through constant work, an insistence on high-quality communication and a pleasant working en-

cating and developing businesspeople is another, is it not?

- Training courses and workshops are fully adapted to clients and their specific needs.

Every client is approached with special care and each client is unique. Training courses and workshops are based on NLP methodology and other knowledge from psychology, management and HR. Education of the youth is based on their preparation for a job, career and life. The idea is for them to

A complete person possesses emotional intelligence in synergy with formal education and knowhow

vironment. Research shows that employees cite the most common reasons for leaving a job as the lack of possibilities for advancement and poor interpersonal relationships.

All of this testifies to the importance of the aforementioned topics.

• To what extent are training courses and workshops adapted to clients and their specific needs? Do you always cover the same topics and do you use the same tools and methodology? Educating young people on a personal front is one thing, while edu-

gain additional knowledge that will help them find their way through the proper setting of goals and the development of business and organisational skills.

In today’s competitive environment, it is essential for businesspeople to have powerful tools that will help them do their jobs to the highest possible level. This education is directed towards improving work outcomes through the increasing of productivity while optimising resources, changing models of behaviour that aren’t useful and focusing on solutions. ■ MARCH

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BUSINESS PREDRAG MIHAJLOVIĆ, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF LINGUA HUB (LINGUAHUB.RS)

Stability, Reliance, & Excellence In Teaching Belgrade-based Lingua HUB isn't a classical language school, but rather an agency for education. Along with its main programme of language classes, it also organises courses and workshops in the fields of business skills, communication, human resources, literature, culture, art, psychology, IT, sales etc.

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he secret of our good results lies in our abaility to adapt to the client.

The prerequisite for finding the right plane in which the student and their educator find themselves is to always have a different working method, alongside frequent changes in dynamics, exercises and activities, says Mr Mihajlović, revealing the secret of his agency’s success.

• Lingua HUB is, as you yourself say, the “Hub of linguistic and other knowledge and skills of modern times”. What does that mean?

- We provide a high-quality, precise and fast service. The field of education is probably, after medicine, the most delicate domain, and should be approached as such – in a wholly humanistic way. This is our commitment, hence the initiative, and this is where our agency becomes a hub of linguistic and other knowledge and skills of modern times.

Alongside having a unique approach for each student, we are ready to evaluate (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, since 2001), advise and direct in the right way. The concept of exchanging knowhow and experience in languages, culture, business skills, new technologies, literature, art, music and trends raises us above the clustering of people and returns them to their habits and commitments.

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• Familiarity with the English language is implied nowadays, while it is commonplace to actively use at least two foreign languages in the business world. Who comprise the majority of your students?

- Most of our students are made up of businesspeople, managers, directors or owners of enterprises. Proficiency in foreign languages in Serbia is, according to CEFR standards, still at an unenviable level, but the fact is that there is an upward trend and that the use of English and other foreign languages in business is becoming commonplace. In circumstances in which people have no time to waste, we often strive to emphasise the

• You adapt your method and programme to each client. Are there rules... as to who performs better in individual lessons and who works best in a group?

- Our success lies in adapting to the client. The prerequisite for finding the right plane in which the student and their educator find themselves is to always have a different working method, alongside frequent changes in dynamics, exercises and activities. This is a very challenging approach for both the student and the teacher.

All our programmes are modern and deductive in their adoption.

Every individual is a set of different characteristics. In the world of fast-moving infor-

Group work generally takes place in companies, in small groups, where commitment to each student is still maximised importance of the slogan “Stop Wasting Time”, so alongside the main programme we are also preparing a course supplement or workshop in the fields of business skills, communication, human resources, literature, culture, art, psychology, IT, sales etc.

This leads to the interest becoming higher, so even students at lower CEFR levels are more engaged, motivated and productive.

mation, people of modern times have a good basis in being more ready both logically and linguistically to further develop their knowledge and skills. The difference between individual and group instructions is the client’s preference.

Both are equally good. ■ office@linguahub.rs Ćirila i Metodija 8, Oaza, Belgrade

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