At the sitting held on 26 May, the Poverty Reduction Committee was briefed on the implementation process of the Law on the Basis of the Education and Upbringing System regarding inclusive education. The sitting was chaired by Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic, Committee Chairperson.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Education Tinde Kovac-Cerovic briefed the Committee members on the activities planned for the implementation of inclusive education in the period 2010-1015. She said that in March, a coordinating body was created at the Ministry to support inclusion, adding that preparations to commence realisation of the inclusion programme in 160 elementary schools throughout Serbia from September this year were already underway. The Government is also expected to adopt a document displaying the network of schools in Serbia by municipality, Kovac-Cerovic stated.

The Committee members deemed this type of communication useful for monitoring the implementation of the law. They emphasised the important role of local communities in the promotion and realisation of the programme of inclusive education.

The Committee endorsed the initiative to distribute the book of Swedish author Jens Ahlbom “Jonathan of Gull Mountain” that speaks of the need to accept diversity in the broadest meaning of the word to first grade pupils along with textbooks in their mother tongue.