19 January 2009
A significant number of Serbia's poorest people suffer from very low educational attainment. In the past, the Serbian government has been slow to address the problem of education among the most impoverished sections of society and excluded citizens have themselves been reluctant to come forward and press for their rights.
But recently, with DFID help, one municipality in northern Serbia has been tackling the problem head-on.
Ready to learn
The main aim of the project in Ada is to ensure regular school attendance by children from disadvantaged and minority groups - the very children whom poverty is likely to keep away from school.
Before each school day begins, those children considered potential absentees are invited to a day centre. Here, assistants make sure that the children are clean, dressed and equipped with the textbooks they need for the day's lessons. When the day is over, the children return to the centre, to be supervised during homework, study or other educational activities by a team of eight trained tutors.
Checking that they are ready for the day ahead, seeing that their education isn't compromised by what happens after the school day is over - these are aspects of a child's development so fundamental that, in developed countries, we are likely to take them for granted. But elsewhere in the world, they present hurdles at which many young people fall.
Over the past five years, the centre has helped 73 children from poor families of all ethnic backgrounds to finish primary education. Some of these children had never before attended primary school, while others had poor attendance records and so had reached the fourth or fifth grade practically illiterate. Of the 73, eight have now progressed to secondary school, and some have gone even further.
"If it weren't for the project, I probably wouldn't be going to medical school today," says Denis, who is currently revising for his preparatory anatomy exams. "I dropped out of school twice because we didn't have the money to pay. But since I joined the project, I've been finishing one year after another."
A strategy for the poor
The project - known as Equal Chances - is one of hundreds of schemes across Serbia aimed at lifting the poorest sections of society out of poverty. These schemes, which are the product of work undertaken by ministries, private businesses, municipalities, non-governmental organisations and international donors, are all being carried out under the aegis of Serbia's Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Six years ago, 11% of people in Serbia lived below the national poverty line of £80 a month. But by last year, thanks largely to the pioneering strategy, this proportion had been cut by almost a half, to 6.6%. It is hoped that the new structures that have been put in place - for example, Ada's day centres - will go on changing lives well into the future.
Facts and stats
- DFID's support for Serbia's Poverty Reduction Strategy runs from November 2005 to March 2009 and is worth £2.3 million.
- Since 2001, DFID has committed approximately £30 million to programmes in Serbia.
- In 2008-9, DFID's bilateral aid budget was £3 million.
- The overall purpose of DFID's programme in Serbia is to support, through technical assistance and collaboration with other donors, the Serbian government’s efforts in poverty reduction, improving governance and preventing further conflict.