Assessment of indicators of children education in Serbia with implication to the health literacy

Assessment of indicators of children education in Serbia with implication to the health literacy

  • Milena Maricic Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, The College of Health Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Verica Trbovic Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, The College of Health Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Katarina Pavlovic Jugovic Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, The College of Health Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Danijela Jezdimirovic Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, The College of Health Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Gordana Antic Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, The College of Health Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Vanja Pazun Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, The College of Health Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Slađana Ilić General Hospital “Medical System Belgrade”, Belgrade
  • Milena Jelić University Clinical Center Kragujevac, Service for Radiological Diagnostics
  • Goran Stojanovic Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, The College of Health Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5937/mckg59-60139
Keywords: children, education, indicators, Serbia, health literacy

Abstract


Introduction: Access to primary education is the basic right of every child. The aim of the work is to assess the status of the share of children of official primary school age who are not enrolled in school and sex differences, as well as the children enrolled in pre-school education, in Serbia, over a period of 15 years.

Method: The research was conducted as an observational epidemiological study. The indicators analysed in this research are the "Share of children of official primary school age who are not enrolled in school" and the indicator "Gross rate of enrolment in preschool education", observation period from 2006 to 2021.

Results: The average percentage of male children outside primary school education was 2.18%, while the percentage of female children was 2.14%. The lowest percentage was observed in 2006, and the highest increase in 2010. The linear regression showed a positive trend for both sexes. There was a significant difference in the percentage of boys and girls outside primary school education in Serbia. On average, almost 60% of children were enrolled in preschool institutions in Serbia, and this increase has shown a significant positive trend over observed time.

 

Conclusion: Serbia stands at a crossroads where continued progress in education could lead to major gains in health literacy and equity. Addressing existing disparities with targeted and inclusive educational policies will be essential not only for achieving educational justice but also for building a healthier and more informed society.

References

1. UNICEF. Primary education [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Dec 10]. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/education/primary-education
2. UNICEF. Equity and Learning in Primary Education [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Dec 10]. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/eap/equity-and-learning-primary-education
3. UNESCO. Sustainable Development Goal 4 [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Dec 10]. Available from: https://www.unesco.org/sdg4education2030/en/sdg4
4. UNESCO. 250 million children out-of-school: What you need to know about UNESCO’s latest education data [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2024 Dec 11]. Available from: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/250-million-children-out-school-what-you-need-know-about-unescos-latest-education-data
5. Borau Jordán JL, Sánchez Martín C, Palánquex Valles M. Education for All: Education for a more Inclusive Society. In: Leal Filho W, Azul A, Brandli L, Özuyar P, Wall T, editors. Sustainable Cities and Communities. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Cham: Springer; 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71061-7_86-1
6. Roser M. Access to basic education: almost 60 million children of primary school age are not in school [Internet]. OurWorldInData.org; 2021 [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/children-not-in-school
7. Friedman J, York H, Graetz N, Woyczynski L, Whisnant J, Hay SI, et al. Measuring and forecasting progress towards the education-related SDG targets. Nature. 2020;580(7805):636–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2198-8
8. UNICEF. Serbia – education and child SDG indicators [Internet]. Available from: https://data.unicef.org/country/srb/
9. UNICEF Serbia. Quality inclusive primary and secondary education [Internet]. 2021. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/serbia/en/reports
10. Jovic-Vranes A, Bjegovic-Mikanovic V, Marinkovic J. Functional health literacy among primary health-care patients in Serbia. Health Promot Int. 2009;24(3):285–91.
11. Savic M, Milijic N, Tadic I, Nikolic D, Bozic J. Parental pharmacotherapy literacy in Serbia: Development and psychometric evaluation of a new instrument. Pharmacy. 2018;6(3):87.
12. Lazarevic M, Vasic K, Milosevic-Georgiev A. Digital health literacy in Serbian adolescents: A cross-sectional study. J Public Health (Oxf). 2022;44(1):e144–e151.
13. Vaivada T, Akseer N, Akseer S, Somaskandan A, Stefopulos M, Bhutta ZA. Stunting in childhood: an overview of global burden, trends, determinants, and drivers of decline. Am J Clin Nutr. 2020;112(Suppl 2):777S–91S. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa159
14. Radosavljević B, Janković S, Marinković J. Maternal education and nutritional status of children in Serbia. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2014;22(4):240–5.
15. UNICEF Serbia. Early childhood education for Roma children [Internet]. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/serbia/en/early-childhood-development
16. UNICEF Serbia. Inclusive education: Ensuring equal opportunities for children with disabilities [Internet]. 2021.
17. Benedetti I, Betti G, Crescenzi F. Measuring child poverty and its uncertainty: A case study of 33 European countries. Sustainability. 2020;12(19):8204. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198204
18. Tekdemir N, Yilmaz HH. An empirical analysis of the determinants of child poverty in European countries. Transylv Rev Adm Sci. 2024;71E:95–112. doi: 10.24193/tras.71E.6
19. Engle PL, Black MM. The effect of poverty on child development and educational outcomes. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008;1136:243–56. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1425.023
20. Logan JR, Burdick-Will J. School segregation and disparities in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci. 2017;674(1):199–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716217733936
21. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Children out of School: Measuring Exclusion from Primary Education [Internet]. Montreal: UIS; 2005 [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/oosc05-en.pdf
22. UNICEF. MICS [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://mics.unicef.org/methodological_work/6/MICS-EAGLE
23. Davis-Kean PE, Tighe LA, Waters NE. The role of parent educational attainment in parenting and children’s development. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2021;30(2):186–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721421993116
24. Wei R, Sullivan EF, Begum F, Rahman N, Tofail F, Haque R, Nelson CA. Parental communicative input as a protective factor in Bangladeshi families living in poverty: A multi-dimensional perspective. Dev Sci. 2024;27(6):e13494. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13494
25. Vukosavljevic S, Radovanovic S, Mihaljevic O, Zdravkovic N, Stojic V, Milojevic S, Radovanovic J, Stepovic M, Janicijevic K, Folic N, et al. Gender Differences in Child Poverty and Social Exclusion Across Europe: A Comparative Focus on Serbia. Children. 2025;12(7):854. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12070854
Published
2025/12/30
Issue
Vol. 59 No. 3 (2025): MEDICINSKI ČASOPIS
Section
Original Scientific Paper