Education matters. It is a gateway to prosperity of individuals and economies alike.

Integrity in education matters too. Corruption hinders prosperity, causes long-term damage to societies, and diminishes the efficiency of investment in their human potential.

Driven by the insight that corruption in education can undermine even the best of intentions, the Republic of Serbia requested the OECD to assess the integrity of its education system – to collect evidence on shortcomings and strengths, to provide a forecast of corruption incidence, and to identify solutions for closing the gaps. This first of its kind integrity report seeks to give pragmatic answers to these queries and support authorities and stakeholders in taking informed decisions on how to strengthen integrity and prevent corruption in the sector. It uses a novel methodology for assessing the integrity of education systems (INTES) to identify the underlying causes of malpractice, and point out areas in need of attention.

The report gives a brief overview of education in Serbia and provides a note on the overall integrity climate in the country (Chapter 1). It moves on to identify issues that affect the capacity of the system to ensure fair access (Chapter 2) and deliver satisfactory quality (Chapter 3), to manage resources and staff diligently and professionally (Chapter 4) and to prevent and detect malpractice and corruption (Chapter 5). Chapter 6 contains the recommendations and suggestions for follow-up.