Serbia’s oldest school marks 296 years

Serbia’s oldest school marks 296 years

Over the decades and centuries, the school has been changing its name and had changing fortunes in turbulent times, but managed to endure as "the first and oldest, its roots reaching back to 1718."

The school’s monograph said it was first mentioned as "Mala srpsko-slovenska skola u Beogradu" ("The Small Serb-Slavic School in Belgrade") with "teacher Stevan" as its lecturer, to later become "Varoška osnovna škola" ("The City Elementary School").

The school's students still attend classes in the building designed by Jelisaveta Načić, Serbia’s first woman architect.

Today, the building in Kralja Petra Street in Belgrade’s downtown is also a monument of culture.

The school is internationally recognized as a monument of cultural and historical heritage in Serbia and is a member of UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project Network.

In the 2012-13 school year it was proclaimed the school of best practices by Serbia's Ministry of Education and Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation.