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1. National strategy(ies)

2. Promoting and supporting sport and physical activity among young people

3. Physical education in schools

4. Collaboration and partnerships

According to the latest data provided within Survey on the position and needs of young people in the Republic of Serbia from February 2024, around 42.5% of young people state that they do not engage in sports activities. Out of those engaged in sports, boys are more engaged than girls with 68.5% comparing to 45.9% of girls. Members of the 20-24 age group are significantly more active compared to other age groups. Young people who do not play sports as the main reasons state lack of time (41.2%) and lack of motivation (38.3%). Youth engagement in sports activities shows slightly decreasing trend being lower if compared to 2019 when about 38% of the youth stated not being engaged. 

As presented in UNICEF analysis and based on the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung,  about one half of young people regularly engage in sports activities where boys are more engaged in sports than girls. Research also showed that adolescents of lower socio-economic status engage in sports less often than their peers from the families with higher socio-economic status. Regional disparities between young people engaging in recreational sports are also evident, with fewer youth engaged in recreational sports in South and Eastern Serbia, and Šumadija and Western Serbia. Another observation is that the rate of young people engaged in sports declines with age. The physical activity index for children up to 14 years is 30 per cent and of young people aged 15-30 years is 12.2 per cent.

National strategy(ies)

There is no current sports national strategy since the expiration of the previous Sports Development Strategy in The Republic of Serbia for the Period 2014-2018. 

Youth Strategy in the Republic of Serbia for the period from 2023 to 2030 emphasizes the importance of sports and recreation activities for the youth health indicating that playing sports, especially for recreational purposes, is important to be available to all young people, regardless of financial status and place of residence. The Strategy addresses sports and recreation issues through realisation of the following measures, particularly refering to the role of sports activities in achieving health goals and ensuring active participation of youth in a society: 

Measure 2.1 Youth spaces are established and function in accordance with defined standards

Measure 2.4 Improved mechanisms of action and capacities of youth policy actors at the local level in the field of creating, implementing and monitoring the development of youth policy

Measure 5.1 Support to programmes that contribute to the development of healthy lifestyles and mental health of young people 

Indicator 3 of the Measure 2.4 stipulates that the share of local self-governments that allocate over 5% of funds within the Sports and Youth Development Programme (budget line 1301) should be at least 50% by 2030 compared to 25% as recorded in 2017. 

The Law on Sports is the main top-level authority regulation in the field of sports and it is in act as of 2016. This law regulates:

• the rights and obligations of athletes and other natural persons in the sports system,
• issues related to the legal status,
• organization and registration of entrepreneurs and legal entities in the sports system,
• general interest as well as needs and interests of citizens in the field of sports,
• financing,
• categorizations in the field of sports,
• school and university sports and physical education,
• sports facilities,
• organization of sports events,
• national recognitions and awards for special contribution to sports development and affirmation and
• supervision over the work of organizations in the field of sports.

Promoting and supporting sport and physical activity among young people

The Fund for Young Talents  under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovations awards secondary school students for their achievements in recognized competitions in the country and abroad in physical education and sport. The calendar of the competitions is published for each school year and cover competitions on school, municipal, regional and republic level. 

The Ministry of Sports, through the Sports Sector provides the following services:  

• financing of regular annual activities of sports organizations;

• financing of sports camps;

• financing of international and national competitions of interest to the Republic of Serbia;

• scholarships for athletes;

• national sports awards and monetary awards for special contribution to the development and affirmation of sports in the Republic of Serbia;

• financing of programs and projects based on Public Calls;

• insight into information of public importance held by the Sports Department;

• inspection supervision;

• registration of sports organizations;

• preparation and adoption of legal acts that more closely regulate certain areas in the national sport of the Republic of Serbia;

• assistance to sports organizations in the process of adaptation and implementation of legal regulations and by-laws;

• analytical monitoring of financial and program activities in national sports;

• the procedure for giving an opinion;

• procedure for viewing and copying files;

• planning and implementation of program funding in the field of sports;

• preparation of recommendations and instructions;

• organization of educations, expert forums, round tables and meetings;

• organization of consultative meetings and formal receptions;

• providing information to civil society;

• making proposals for adoption of a decision on the admission to the citizenship of the Republic of Serbia of athletes and sports experts.

In 2023, under the project "Strengthening the capacity of relevant institutions within the Agreement on reform of the education sector in Serbia - Strengthening the link between employment and social inclusion", Ministry of Sports organised a conference entitled "School and school sports - a place where I grow, learn and practice". The conference served as an opportunity to discuss policies aimed at prevention of youth violence through greater engagement in sports activities. 

In addition, Ministry of Tourism and Youth finances and co-finances youth programmes and projects of public interest through public calls. In addition to supporting the implementation of youth volunteer projects and volunteer camps within the Programme Youth Rules (Mladi su zakon) (see more on 2.4 Youth volunteering at national level) these public calls support programs and projects aimed at implementing the objectives of the National Youth Strategy.

In this regard, it is possible to propose:

• innovative programmes or projects;
• programmes or projects that represent the continuation of initiated activities from previous programmes or projects;
• programmes or projects modelled on those previously implemented that have given good results.

These proposals must contribute to the achievement strategic goals referring to health and well-being of young people. Funds for programmes and projects are provided in the budget of the Republic of Serbia, based on the Law on the Budget of the Republic of Serbia.

Physical education in schools

Physical and health education is a mandatory subject in general upper secondary schools, however schools provide curricular and extracurricular sport activities.

Recommended compulsory instruction time of physical and health education in gymnasiums is two school hours per week and for four years it is in total of 288 school hours. School hour in Serbia is 45 minutes long. Main thematic areas covered are:

• physical abilities;
• motor skills, sports and sports disciplines;
• physical and health culture.

Choice of sport is given to children; so, based on their abilities and interests, pupils opt for a sport in which they train, improve and develop their creativity throughout the school year. These can be suggested sport branches and other sports for which students show interest. At the beginning of each school year, the teachers' council, at the proposal of the professional council of physical education teachers, determines the sports that the students of that school can choose. According to the Law on Primary Education and Upbringing (“Official Gazette RS No. 55/2013, 101/2017, 10/2019, 27/2018 – other laws, 129/2021, and 92/2023), in order to develop and practice a healthy lifestyle, to develop awareness of the importance of one's own health and safety, of the need to nurture and develop physical abilities, as well as to prevent violence, drug addiction, juvenile delinquency, the school implements a school sports program within the school curriculum, which includes all students.

Thematic area physical and health culture is realized through two topics Physical Education and Health Culture. The main goal of Physical Education is beside encouraging pupils to exercise independently, to explain them the safety rules and principles of exercise and the basic ways of working on the development of motor and functional abilities as well as the preventive effect that physical exercise has on health.

Sports and health is offered as an optional curricular programme to the pupils of the first and the second grade of the upper secondary schools. The goal is for the pupils, based on the study of various aspects of healthy living, to develop knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that are in the function of preserving and improving the health and culture of physical exercise. Main topics covered are:

• sport and psychoactive substances;
• physical activity and reproductive health;
• proper nutrition and physical exercise in sports and recreation.

And finally, schools can organize sports and recreational activities as optional extracurricular activities in duration of 30-60 school hours per year to include those sports, recreational activities and disciplines that compulsory physical and health education classes cannot include. The aim is:

• coverage of as many pupils as possible with a special physical exercise programme, which together with the general, compulsory programme, forms a unique system of school physical education;
• satisfaction of new and increasingly diverse desires and interests of school youth to engage in various branches of physical exercise in their free time;
• discovering the possibilities of development and creativity in physical culture, sports, gymnastics, games, dance and helping students to comprehensively develop their natural abilities for different types of physical activities;
• Encouraging students to learn how to integrate physical exercise into their daily lives and to develop activity in this area as their permanent need and obligation.

The work consists of:

• sports and recreational activities of informal groups for which the group independently decides (all sports games, table tennis, archery, swimming, etc.);
• trainings and competitions in sports for which pupils independently decide to participate on the basis of desires and predispositions (athletics, exercises, handball, football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, swimming, etc.);
• entertaining competitions and contests, excursions and other activities for entertainment and leisure; special courses for basic introduction to some branches of physical exercise and sports disciplines, which pupils have not met before or want to deepen their knowledge (wrestling, karate, judo, skating, chess, etc.).

In addition, the school organizes and conducts sports competitions, school sports week as a unique part of the process of teaching physical and health education.

Physical education in vocational secondary schools includes, besides Physical education, Sports technical education programme (athletics, exercises on the equipment and the ground). Vocational secondary schools also organise optional extracurricular activities.

Programmes of continuous professional development are offered to the physical education teachers through the Catalogue of accredited programmes by Institute for Improvement of Education.

Collaboration and partnerships

Youth Strategy in the Republic of Serbia for the period from 2023 to 2030 supports the development of the extracurricular activities by cooperating with scientific, cultural, sports, technical-technological and other institutions that provide development opportunities to young people.

The Law on Sports allows that if an educational institution, i.e. a higher education institution does not have the conditions for organizing an independent sports section, it can be realized through school cooperation with an organization in the field of sports.

The Law also envisages joining of sports clubs and organizations into associations and federations.

In July 2023 Ministry of Sports signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia for the implementation of the Pilot Project "Every child has the right to grow up healthy!". The aim of the project is to contribute to improvement of the strategic system of physical and health education and sports starting from primary school age and up to top sports. The pilot project should contribute to the creation of a stronger development system of physical and health education and sports. 

The Sports Federation of Serbia is a territorial sports federation for the Republic of Serbia, which includes the competent national branch sports federations, competent national sports federations for sports, national professional and other sports associations, as well as territorial sports federations for the autonomous province, local self-government units and city municipalities.

The Sports Federation of Serbia performs activities that provide conditions for monitoring, development and improvement of sports recreation, children's sports, including physical education of preschool children and school sports, university sports, sports in diaspora and top sports in non-Olympic sports.