There is no precise data on how much the state has allocated from the budget for the realization of distance learning, and the data obtained by Nova Ekonomija show that the Ministry of Education has largely relied on donor assistance. It cost parents and teachers a lot, a good part set aside 500 euros to organize distance learning for children.
Companies and non-governmental organizations primarily provided technical devices and the Internet for the poorest students, while most teachers used their own resources during online classes or borrowed technical devices from their schools on the reverse.
“Since the introduction of the state of emergency, the state has provided free use of the Microsoft Teams platform, and all teachers have been given orders and the necessary training. Some schools have decided to use other platforms. Google Class is the most represented. Free access to RTS Planet and sites is provided which are used for the school, such as the site “Teaching schedule”, “My school”, etc. In addition, an agreement has been reached with operators not to charge for mobile internet,” the Ministry of Education answered the question of New Economy how much money and resources allocated for the implementation of distance learning in the period from March to June 2020 and in the first half of this school year.
According to them, instructions for the use of tools for performing the educational process by distance learning have been prepared, and they are available on the website of the Institute for the Advancement of Education. With the support of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, the Internet is provided in every school.
The Ministry says that for eighth grade students who did not have the conditions to follow distance learning and access the online mock final exam, internet and / or technical devices (tablet and mobile) were provided from donations, thanks to the Office for Information Technology and Electronic Administration of the RS Government and companies.
Thus, Huawei Serbia donated 100 tablets, Comtrade provided 300 phones, and Telekom 800 internet cards and 800 phones, VIP 800 internet cards and 400 phones and Telenor 800 internet cards and 400 phones, which is a total of 4,400 devices and cards.
The Ministry of Education directed most of its resources to recording TV classes, which were broadcast through the public service channel and the RTS Planet platform, and in the second half of last school year, many local televisions included educational items in their programming and showed recorded classes in national minority languages. Among them are televisions Vanje, Bujanovac, Presevo, Sandzak television, RT Caribrod, RTV Panon, RTV OK Kovacica, televisions Pancevo, Banat, Petrovec, Stara Pazova, TV Kopernikus… This enabled a large coverage of children with distance learning and provided the right to the education of all. In addition, the national councils of national minorities have put their sites, Youtube channels and other resources in the service of education, the Ministry of Education notes.
Donor and NGO assistance was not directed only at children from vulnerable social groups.
The Ministry reminds that UNICEF provided funds for the purchase of software necessary for recording TV lessons from home, which was changed when an epidemic broke out in the primary school, which initially served as an improvised studio.
UNICEF for New Economy explains that they have acquired 79 licenses for specialized software for recording distance learning lessons, as well as 28 laptops for the same needs.
“UNICEF procured and donated software for the conversion of speech into text on Radio Television of Serbia in order to enable better accessibility of teaching content broadcast on television. A Vimeo channel for broadcasting teaching content for secondary vocational schools was also purchased,” they say in that organization.
The Ministry adds that other international organizations have provided their contribution to the implementation of distance learning in the previous period by providing free online training for employees in education and / or educational materials intended for preschool or school children and their parents, such as the World Bank, Microsoft, Save the Children, Children’s Foundation Pestalozzi…
“Since our target group is children from the poorest families, ie from the poorest regions of Serbia, some of them do not even have electricity in their homes, part of the help was directed to the school as support in printing learning materials distributed to children who were not able to get involved in online classes,” New Economy at the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation told.
In order to provide access to education for children from vulnerable groups during the pandemic, the Pestalozzi Foundation, directly or through operational partners, provided for students from 71 partner schools: 585 tablets, 20 printers, 54, toners, 35 school supplies (notes, pens), eight smartphones, nine laptops, one desktop computer, 108 textbooks for students, 169 paper packages. Three classrooms in three schools are equipped with furniture, tablets for students and didactic material, and 424 families received free internet from June to December 2020 in cooperation with the organization Digital Serbia, according to this foundation.
UNICEF announces that within the project “Bridging the digital divide in Serbia for the most endangered children”, 30 primary schools will receive a total of 1,890 tablets and 60 laptops in February, which will make up school libraries of educational technologies.
From them, students who do not have digital devices will be able to borrow tablets and use them for distance learning. Laptop computers will also be available to 250 currently employed pedagogical assistants in schools. This project is being implemented by UNICEF in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, with the financial support of the European Union.
The Ministry says that equipping schools with technical equipment in the coming period will be financed from a loan from the European Investment Bank. It is planned to purchase 18,500 laptops and equip 21,500 digital classrooms, Nova Ekonomija reports.
