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National Competition: Competences for Democratic Culture and Cross-curricular Approach – Application in Practice

As part of the joint project of the European Union and the Council of Europe entitled “Quality Education for All”, which is being implemented in the Republic of Serbia in partnership with the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia and the Institute for Improvement of Education, we invite all teachers employed in primary and secondary schools in the Republic of Serbia to participate in the competition “Competences for Democratic Culture and Cross-curricular Approach – Application in Practice”.

The competition aims to encourage teachers to create and implement inspiring lesson plans that integrate learning with values, skills, attitudes and critical thinking that are part of the competences for democratic culture through a subject-specific and cross-curricular approach, while applying modern pedagogical methods in practice.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

The competition is open to teachers (of all subjects) employed in educational institutions at the pre-university level in the Republic of Serbia. Applications must be submitted individually.

HOW TO APPLY FOR PARTICIPATION?

  • Participation is free of charge, and the detailed application procedure, terms and conditions, as well as the privacy policy can be found in the document General Terms and Conditions
  • Download the application form here
  • The full text of the call can be downloaded here
  • Signed statement (an integral part of the application, download here)

Deadline for submission of applications: November 3, 2025, until 23:59.

Winners - Authors of the five selected papers will be announced on December 1, 2025.

JUDGING AND SELECTION

Applications will be evaluated by an expert jury composed of representatives of the Ministry of Education, the Institute for Improvement of Education and the action "Quality Education for All".

AWARDS

The authors of the 5 (five) selected submissions will be given the opportunity to attend specialised training at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, in March 2026, with all expenses covered, and their lesson plans will be published on the portal of the Institute for Improvement of Education and the Ministry of Education, as part of the best practices database.

CONTACT AND FURTHER INFORMATION

For all questions and further information, please contact: [email protected]

This initiative is carried out within the action “Quality education for all” which is part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

Horizontal Facility III

The joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” (Horizontal Facility III) is a co-operation initiative, running from 2023 until 2026. The programme covers actions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. It enables the Beneficiaries to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with European
standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process. 

The envelope of this facility amounts to ca. 41 million EUR (85% funded by the EU, 15% by the CoE).

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.