Rollout of the Connected Schools project in Serbia is providing equal digital opportunities for children throughout the country

Providing schoolchildren with a modern learning environment is a prerequisite for a country’s competitiveness and ability to adapt to global challenges. Thanks to the Connected School project, over 3 800 schools in Serbia have been equipped with high-speed internet access, enabling over 730 000 students and 100 000 teachers to learn and work in a modern digital environment.  

“Our goal was to motivate children to start using 21st century’s digital skills on a daily basis for the purpose of education and research, in order to keep up to speed with the fourth industrial revolution, while providing a safe digital environment,“ says Mihailo Jovanović , Serbia’s Minister of Information and Telecommunications.

Providing equal opportunities for people in Serbia

Over 1 800 classrooms in primary and secondary schools across the country have had high-speed wireless internet connections installed, including 1 000 with ultra-fast fibre-optic cables that have a transfer capacity of over 300 megabits per second.

“The idea behind this project was to create equal development prospects for every region in Serbia, where all young people and children, no matter where they live and without exception, will be able to access the same opportunities and competencies, just like their peers in digitally advanced societies," explains Jovanović.

For the Connected Schools programme, EIB Global is providing a €70 million loan, accompanied with a €1.2 million technical assistance grant to ensure its efficient implementation. Along with the installation of wireless local area networks and modern computer equipment such as laptops, projectors and printers, the project enables first-hand training in digital skills for teachers and pupils.

Empowering young people with digital skills

“Our major responsibility as policy makers is to provide a set of conditions to enable our children to fulfil their potential, opt for jobs of the future we could not dream of, and compete with the best global talent on equal merits,” says Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabić.

“These are digital roads that we are building. We wish to provide conditions for each citizen and each child that will allow them to remain at their place of birth or place of their choice,” she says.

Empowering young people with digital skills will help them prepare for a competitive labour market and prevent the brain drain that continues to hinder faster economic growth in Serbia and the Western Balkans. A significant share of the population in the region already lives abroad, while 37% are considering leaving (2021 Balkan Barometer). In addition, a mismatch between the demands of the labour market and the skills being learned is creating additional job market gaps.

Early adoption of basic digital competences

“The project supports the national digital education programme, by improving the digital infrastructure, teaching materials and skills. We see huge potential around early adoption of basic and, subsequently, advanced digital skills for Serbia’s competitiveness, innovation and desire to create an equitable society,” says the head of the EIB’s regional office for the Western Balkans, Alessandro Bragonzi.

“In parallel, digital skills will gradually become one of critical criteria for employability. In Europe, already more than 90% of professional roles require a basic level of digital knowledge and with the acceleration of digitalisation and artificial intelligence, this figure is expected to grow,” says Bragonzi.

Since 2020, EIB Global has invested €200 million in projects to promote digitalisation in Serbia’s economy, education sector and small businesses.