The “Bridging Digital Divide for Most Vulnerable Children” project was launched today by the Head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Sem Fabrizi, the Serbian Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development, Branko Ružić, and UNICEF Representative in Serbia, Deyana Kostadinova.

COVID-19 has caused significant disruption to education, affecting an entire generation of students. For this reason, the Ministry, the European Union and UNICEF have joined forces to bridge the digital divide for some of the most vulnerable children in Serbia through education system support, the provision of open-source educational resources and technical equipment, and through school-based activities aimed at improving children’s learning outcomes. The EU-funded project is worth €2 million and will be implemented in 30 municipalities across Serbia.

In the opening remarks of the event, EU Ambassador to Serbia, Sem Fabrizi said: “The EU stands ready to continue helping Serbia to address the most urgent needs caused by COVID-19. Education is for us a priority. We need adapting the education system to the needs emerging from a distance and online learning and avoiding no one is left behind. The most pressing need is to ensure equal access to education, particularly for the underprivileged students who are affected the most in this emergency situation.”

The project is an essential element in the response to bridging the digital divide. By supplying 30 schools in Serbia with 1,800 tablets, as well as with other educational resources and support, this project will help the education system to adapt to the new challenges posed by COVID, and build the necessary digital resilience for the future.

The project will ensure that at national level there is further development of an inclusive e-learning system and institutions’ strengthened capacity for its delivery, management and monitoring. This includes further development of the technical capacities of the distance learning platform and supporting the development of its content.