No. 07-00-783/2025-02 date: 18.11.2025.
CITY OF NIŠ
Dragoslav Pavlović, Mayor
18000 NIŠ
24 Nikole Pašića Street
Subject: Recommendation of Measures for Achieving Equality and Protection Against Discrimination
Dear Mr. Pavlović,
In a communication addressed to the Commissioner, citizens stated that on 11 June 2025 the City of Niš adopted the Decision on the Allocation of Assistance to Pupils in the Territory of the City of Niš (“Official Gazette of the City of Niš” No. 67/2025) regarding the payment of financial assistance in the amount of 20,000 dinars to parents of primary school pupils in the territory of this city. However, as indicated, the assistance was not paid to children attending the Primary School for Children with Developmental Disabilities “School plus.” The communication stated that the Decision was adopted on the basis of the Law on the Fundamentals of the Education System (Article 190), without taking into account the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, and that children attending state-owned schools were favored. The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality has been asked to examine this decision and provide an appropriate recommendation.
The Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination stipulates that an act of discrimination means any unjustified differentiation or unequal treatment, or omission (exclusion, restriction, or giving priority) in relation to individuals or groups, as well as members of their families or persons close to them, whether in an open or concealed manner, based on race, skin color, descent, citizenship, national affiliation or ethnic origin, language, religious or political beliefs, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, level of income, property status, birth, genetic characteristics, health condition, disability, marital and family status, criminal record, age, appearance, membership in political, trade union or other organizations, and other actual or presumed personal characteristics.[1]
Article 19 paragraph 1 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination provides that everyone has the right to pre-school, primary, secondary and higher education and vocational training under equal conditions, in accordance with the law, while paragraph 2 prohibits making it more difficult or impossible for a person or group of persons, on the basis of their personal characteristics, to enroll in an educational institution, or excluding them from these institutions, making it more difficult or denying them the ability to attend classes or participate in other educational activities, classifying pupils according to a personal characteristic, abusing them, or in any other way unjustifiably making distinctions and treating them unequally.
Paragraph 3 of this Article prescribes that discrimination against educational and upbringing institutions that carry out their activities in accordance with the law and other regulations, as well as against persons who use or have used the services of these institutions in accordance with the law, is prohibited.
The Decision on the Allocation of Assistance to Pupils in the Territory of the City of Niš[2] establishes the right to receive assistance for pupils of primary schools in the territory of the City of Niš in the net amount of 20,000 dinars per pupil for the 2025/2026 school year. These financial funds are paid to the parents, guardians, or foster parents of pupils and are provided from the budget of the City of Niš, under the budget lines of the City Administration responsible for education affairs. The competent administration transfers the funds to the school accounts in the amount stated in the schools’ requests, according to the number of enrolled pupils based on the official school records. Payment to the parents, guardians, or foster parents of the pupils is carried out by the school. The implementation of this decision falls under the competence of the City Administration responsible for education affairs, the City Administration for Finance, and the primary schools in the territory of the City of Niš.
The Decision on the Allocation of Assistance to Pupils in the Territory of the City of Niš was adopted on the basis of Article 37, paragraph 1, item 28 of the Statute of the City of Niš[3], which prescribes that the City Assembly, in accordance with the law, performs other tasks determined by law and by this statute.
The provisions of Article 190 of the Law on the Fundamentals of the Education System[4] prescribe that an institution may, through the participation of the local self-government unit or from expanded activities, secure funds for higher quality in the field of preschool, primary, and secondary education and upbringing. The institution may also secure the funds referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article through donor or sponsor funds, as well as through the voluntary participation of parents of children and pupils, in accordance with the law. The funds referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are used to improve the conditions of education and upbringing in terms of space, equipment, and teaching materials, to implement programs that are not the institution’s primary activity, and for the nutrition and assistance of children and pupils.
By analyzing the Decision on the Allocation of Assistance to Pupils in the Territory of the City of Niš, it was established that the said act does not make a distinction between primary school pupils based on whether they attend a primary school founded with budgetary funds or with private funds. Article 190 of the Law on the Fundamentals of the Education System likewise does not differentiate between these two groups of pupils depending on which school they attend. Article 190 prescribes the possibility of securing funds for higher-quality education and, among other things, for the nutrition and assistance of children and pupils, without making distinctions based on the founder of the educational institution and without distinguishing whether the institution is attended by children with or without disabilities.
Taking into account the provisions of the Decision on the Allocation of Assistance to Pupils in the Territory of the City of Niš, as well as the provisions of Article 19 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, which proclaims the right to education under equal conditions, and the prohibition of discrimination against educational and upbringing institutions that carry out their activities in accordance with the law and other regulations, as well as against persons who use or have used the services of these institutions in accordance with the law, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality recommends that the City of Niš apply the decision also to children attending the Primary School for Children with Developmental Disabilities “School plus,” Niš.
The City of Niš shall inform the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality about the measures undertaken for the implementation of this recommendation within 30 days from the date of receipt of this recommendation.
An appeal or any other legal remedy is not permitted against this recommendation of measures for achieving equality, in accordance with the law.
[1] Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination (“Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 22/09 and 52/21), Art. 2.
[2]“Official Gazette of the City of Niš”, no. 67/25
[3] “Official Gazette of the City of Niš”, nos. 88/08, 143/2016 and 18/19
[4] “Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 8/17, 27/18 – oth. law, 10/19, 27/18 – oth. law, 6/20, 129/21, 92/23 and 19/25
COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković
