Today, at the National Assembly House, the Competitors of the Generation, the best elementary school primary who achieved exceptional results at republic and international competitions, were presented by plaques in a ceremony attended by the National Assembly Speaker, Ana Brnabic.
The students received the awards from the Minister of Education Dejan Vuk Stankovic, Minister of Sports Zoran Gajic and the Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment Dr Mihailo Jovanovic.
The names of the awarded students can be found on the "Competitors of the Generation" platform, launched in 2023, with the intention to promote and reward the best student competitors of the generation.
At the event, Brnabic said that 320 students were awarded in the previous two years, and today the awards go to the 127 best, 86 in the field of science, 33 in the field of sports, and eight in the field of art.
"You make up an incredible 0.2% of your generation and you are an inspiration to all of us," said Brnabic, adding that the state wants to provide systemic support and recognise young talents in a timely manner.
As she said, the desire is to prevent talent from being wasted when moving to the fifth grade of elementary school, when enrolling in high school, and by establishing a unique information system in education, it is possible to follow the entire path of talented students from the very recognition of educational programmes, to results in competitions, and then, somewhat later, the first steps in professional life and career development.
"In the previous school year, we had 1,754 students who attended an individual educational programme for the gifted in primary school and 416 students in secondary education. In order to encourage work with talented children, we also launched specialised classes in grammar schools a few years ago, and today we have 403 specialised classes in grammar schools across Serbia, attended by a total of 13,231 students," said Brnabic.
According to her, work must be done to ensure continuity and timely guidance of students in accordance with their preferences and abilities.
She said that it is necessary to continue investing in education, in the modernisation of schools, so that young people have equal opportunities, like their peers, in the most advanced countries across Europe, throughout the world.
"These awards are quite small reminders that someone in the institutions sees and appreciates your efforts and believes in you. Cherish that feeling, because that feeling will often give you the strength to overcome obstacles and find a way out," said Brnabic.
Brnabic said that being a competitor of the generation does not just mean winning recognition, it above all means competing, being curious, not giving up when things get hard, having courage and persevering in the face of obstacles.
"And each of you has learned something important along the way. The most important thing, I think, is to learn that mistakes are an integral part of growth and development and victory, because only those who work make mistakes and only those who invest effort make mistakes, and the best, like you, learn and grow and continue to develop based on their own and others' mistakes," said Brnabic.
The “Competitors of the Generation" platform aims to provide systematic support to all young people who are talented, be that in the field of knowledge, or science, the field of mathematics, socio-linguistics, humanities or in the field of sports and the field of art.
Source: TANJUG
