Overview of the General Education System

Yugoslavia was a federated state in the Balkans that fell apart early in the 1990s following the death of Josip Broz Tito and then the rise of ethnic nationalism. The referendum vote in 1992 led to independence and war that resulted to Dayton Agreement of 1995. Yugoslavia's Ministry of Education regulated public and private schools, cultural societies and a four-part system: pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary.

Primary school was mandatory for children aged 7–15 and followed by a four-year secondary school. Teaching was in the local languages: Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, and Macedonia. Academic or vocational paths were determined by secondary education, delivered through grammar, vocational and art schools. Curriculum was governed by state, had centralized teacher training and public delivery. Higher education provided short-cycle professional and long-cycle academic degrees and completion of secondary education and entrance examinations were a requirement by the universities. The University of Belgrade was the largest, with more than 90,000 students and over 4,000 faculty staff. Centralized government-led was institutionalized until post-1945 decentralization. With Tito’s death in 1980 and increasing nationalism, Slovenia and Croatia quit the federation in 1991, Bosnia followed suit in 1992, and the federation collapsed.

After dissolution, each successor state established its own educational system and regulatory structure, qualifications. Upon the breakup of the federation, seven entities emerged: Slovenia (1991), Croatia (1991), Macedonia (1991), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992), Kosovo (UN Protectorate, 1999), Montenegro (2006), and Serbia (2006). Complete profiles are available for each, covering country overview, educational ladder, grading systems, and credential types.