TALIS 2024 in the Western Balkans

Teacher shortages are generally limited in Serbia, except for teachers with competence in supporting students with special education needs: around one-third of teachers work in schools whose principal reports related gaps.

Teachers in Serbia consistently report the lowest levels of job satisfaction in the region and only a small share agree that the teaching profession is valued by society. Satisfaction appears to decline with age and experience and older teachers are more likely to report negative impacts on their well-being. 

Perhaps as a result, teachers in Serbia are more likely than in neighbouring systems to report intending to leave the profession, including nearly one-quarter of those aged under 30. Contract instability may contribute to this: young teachers are much more likely to be on fixed-term or part-time contracts.

In Serbia, about one-in-four teachers work in schools where more than 10% of students are from minority backgrounds, though fewer report that students have language-related difficulties. Just over 10% teach in schools with high shares of students have special education needs. Teachers typically feel their initial education prepared them less well to support students with these more specific needs as compared to subject-related instruction.

Teachers frequently implement adaptive teaching practices and the use of digital tools for this purpose is more common than in neighbouring systems. Nevertheless, teachers’ confidence in implementing such practices and those that support students with more specific needs is lower in Serbia than elsewhere in the region and demand for related professional learning is high. 

A large share of teachers report participating in induction at their current school and this is associated with a positive increase in reported fulfilment of lesson aims. Meanwhile 91% of teachers work in a school offering mentoring but, like in neighbouring systems, participation is very low at just 6% and is not associated with an increase in instructional confidence. 

Participation in professional development is near-universal but less than half of teachers in Serbia report that that it impacted their teaching. The share is even lower among older, more experienced teachers. They see a lack of relevance and incentives as key barriers to professional learning. 

Unlike in neighbouring systems, professional collaboration in Serbia is more focused on peer observation and collaborative learning than the exchange of information and materials.