Repression in Education: A wave of Dismissals, Removals and Disciplinary Procedures
Repression in Education: A wave of Dismissals, Removals and Disciplinary Procedures

Author(s): Author Not Specified
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Education, Civil Society, Governance, Corruption - Transparency - Anti-Corruption
Published by: Građanske inicijative
Keywords: Educational repression; teacher dismissals; disciplinary proceedings; academic autonomy; political retaliation; student protests; education system politicization
Summary/Abstract: The report documents a new form of repression in Serbia’s education system, carried out on a mass scale during 2024/2025 and continuing into the 2026 calendar year. Following a wave of salary suspensions for employees in educational institutions at the beginning of 2025, a systematic pattern of criminal complaints, disciplinary proceedings, dismissals, and removals of principals and teachers was introduced by the end of the year. The examples and cases listed in the report represent only the tip of the iceberg - these are cases that have been reported and documented, while numerous pressures on employees in education remain unreported and outside official records. According to workers unions and professional networks for 2025, more than 100 school employees have already lost their jobs or contract extensions, while over 110 disciplinary procedures have been initiated in high schools and elementary schools in numerous cities (Subotica, Belgrade, Srbobran, Požarevac, Gornji Milanovac). The Ministry of Education confirmed that 25 school principals were replaced, and that as many as 75 principals resigned, while in Niš the local authorities replaced entire school boards in 26 schools. Rectors and vice-rectors of universities have been repeatedly questioned and faced with criminal charges, which the academic community sees as an open attempt at intimidation. Pressure on the University of Belgrade culminated in 2026 after the tragic death of a student from the Faculty of Philosophy, which was misused as a pretext for the Criminal Police to enter the Rectorate building and for a broad tabloid campaign targeting the rector of the Belgrade University and the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy. At the same time, the authorities also moved to establish parallel structures in higher education. In Niš, they founded the Faculty of Serbian Studies by separating three departments from the Faculty of Philosophy without the prior consent of the faculty’s Teaching and Research Council. Prime Minister Đuro Macut signed a memorandum with the Serbian Orthodox Church with the intention of establishing the new Saint Sava University, a project that has raised numerous uncertainties and unresolved questions.

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