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1. Status in national legislation

2. Education, training and skills recognition

3. Mobility of youth workers

Status in national legislation

Since the beginning of 2019, a new Classification of Occupations has been in force in Serbia, which included total of 3,641 occupations. Youth worker as a profession was included as well under the code 3412.03., thus became an official part of the National Qualification Framework. However, formal adoption of the qualification standards for youth workers is still not completed. 

With the support of UNICEF Serbia, NAPOR is working on the definition of qualification standards for youth workers. Development and formalisation of the initiative for the development and adoption of qualification standards to the Agency for Qualifications of the Republic of Serbia is under progress. However, it was noted that before submitting the initiative, it is necessary to wait for the finalization of the draft Serbian Youth Law, initiated by the MTY in 2023, under which youth workers should be defined, and/or the completion of the process of drafting professional standards for youth workers should be completed. Research performed by NAPOR „Impact of non-formal education in youth work to acquire competencies for better employability of young people“ indicates that 11 out of 15 competences often required by employers could be achieved through programmes of youth work. 

As defined by the Youth Policy Dictionary jointly developed by the National Youth Council of Serbia, the National Association of Youth Practitioners and the National Association of Local Youth Offices „A youth worker is a professional person, engaged in civil society organizations/institutions/local self-government, who carries out youth work activities, and whose competencies are defined by occupational standards in the field of youth work“.

Education, training and skills recognition

At the moment, there is no specific form of formal education leading to qualification as youth worker. In addition, no training for continuous professional development, either directly organised or funded by public authorities, is available to youth workers. Most education is provided through non-formal education conducted by the NGOs.

National Association of Youth Workers - NAPOR organises training for youth workers and awards their accreditation. The process is guided by a handbook for accreditation (NAPOR 2009) and the Council for Ethical Questions.

As described in 10.4 Quality and innovation in youth work/ Quality assurance, NAPOR has developed a professional standards for qualifications in youth work on three levels:

• Youth Leader;
• Youth Worker;
• Specialist for Youth Work and Policy.

In addition to professional standards, NAPOR also worked on development of education curricula. Developed curricula includes training for both Youth Leader and Youth Worker, as well as a defined mechanism for the validation of previously acquired competencies in youth work.  For practitioners who conduct youth work, who continuously work on their training in the field, but do not have a comprehensive formal or non-formal education in youth work, it is possible to show and prove the competencies they have gained through experience and various trainings before the commission, based on which they receive a certificate for one of the two levels of occupation in youth work. Curriculum for the third level – Specialist for Youth Work and Policy has still not been developed since it requires a formal university degree. 

For those who do not have enough experience in youth work that they can validate, a training process has been created. It consists of several thematic modules and practice in youth work. Thematic modules, with defined learning outcomes, cover competencies defined by the standard of occupation and contain the theoretical basis of youth work. The modules are conducted through online learning, as well as practical work with trainers. In the revised curricula for the education of youth leaders and youth workers (2014), each module of multi-modular education begins with online learning. Internship in youth work is an integral part of the training and implies the implementation of a continuous programme of youth work with a group of young people which each participant implements in their local community, in the home organization. Envisaged modules are presented in the table below: 

The implementation of the curriculum for the education of youth workers can be coordinated by NAPOR, whereby for the implementation of each individual module, member organizations that have the most experience and capacity to implement them is being licensed. On the other side, the coordination of the training programmes can be implemented by NAPOR member organizations that have sufficient capacity and experience to conduct the entire training. In both cases, NAPOR issues certificates to all participants who by the end of the training meet the set of competencies required for the level of occupation for which they are being trained. The NAPOR certificate is recognized by member organizations, as well as by the Ministry of Tourism and Youth.

1. Internships aimed at training youth workers;
2. Ideas and practices for the development of youth initiatives and projects.

The presented examples of good practice cover all levels: local, regional, national and international, and deal with the following topics:

• Advocacy (how to make youth work visible and important for society),
• Education and training of youth workers (formal and informal),
• Employment of youth workers.

A new Statute of NAPOR adopted in 2023 introduced the Professional Association of Youth Workers (SKOR) as a permanent body whose members are youth workers who perform youth work on the territory of the Republic and hold a certificate for the training of youth workers, i.e. leaders, issued by NAPOR and/or member organizations and/or competent national institutions, and/or a diploma from a national/international college, in accordance with the existing qualification framework. SKOR currently gathers 26 members. 

Mobility of youth workers

As previously mentioned in Chapter 10.3 Support to youth work/funding, mobility for youth workers is supported through Erasmus+ programme.

The Erasmus+ programme offers the following possibilities in youth sector:

• KA1 Youth Exchanges;
• KA1 Youth Worker Mobility;
• KA1 Youth Participation Projects – With these projects, organisations can work to connect young people with the community and decision-makers, to express views, convey opinions about challenges and work together with decision-makers to overcome challenges.
• KA1 DiscoverEU Inclusion projects under which organisations and informal groups of young people can receive support to carry out projects allowing young people with fewer opportunities, who are 18 years’ old, a chance to have a short-term individual or group experience travelling across Europe by rail or other modes of transport where necessary. 
• KA2 Partnerships for Youth Cooperation – for those interested to continue working to improve services and activities for young people and youth workers, as well as improvements within the youth sector in general, with partners from different countries.
• KA2 Small partnerships in the field of youth – for those who would like to work on improving services for young people as well as to strengthen cooperation with organizations from other countries.

In the youth sector, over the 2019-2023 period, organisations from Serbia were partners in more than 1600 KA1 projects, holding a position of coordinator within 98 projects. Under KA2 component, Serbian Higher Education Institutions were coordinators in a total of 22 KA2 projects from 2019 to 2023, participating in 129 projects in total. In 2023, Serbian institutions took participation in 22 and 6 projects within KA1 and KA2 components respectively. Additionally, participation of Serbian institutions have been approved under 39 Capacity Building projects (centralized action) in the field of youth, out of which 4 projects were led by partners from Serbia. More details related to Erasmus+ Programme support could be found at 10.3 Support to youth work.  

In addition to the projects, youth workers can participate in Training and Cooperation Activities (TCA) since 2019.Training and Cooperation Activities (TCAs), formerly called Transnational Cooperation Activities, are international activities (seminars, training programmes, conferences, research activities, webinars, online courses, etc.) that are part of the Erasmus+ programme. The aim of TCAs is to support networking and forming partnerships between individuals and institutions and in that way to contribute to achieving the aims of the Erasmus+ programme.

The focus of the TCAs is on sharing practices, experiences, supporting competence development and providing networking opportunities for individuals all over Europe. TCAs are generally open for representatives of educational and youth institutions and organizations.