INTRODUCTION

The Building the Critical Computer Skills for the Future Ready Workforce project aims to equip primary and secondary school students with the digital and computing skills needed to meet the demands of the future labour market. In a society undergoing rapid technological transformation, computing skills have become a cornerstone of modern literacy, while investing in young people's education is essential for building a competitive and inclusive economy.

Since 2021, the project has been implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Petlja Foundation and the Faculty of Education, with the support of the Ministry of Education and the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

OBJECTIVE

To strengthen the digital skills of students and teaching staff in primary and secondary schools by modernizing educational resources, enhancing teachers' capacities, and introducing innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

FOCUS AREAS

– Enhancing educational materials and digital learning platforms for programming education
– Strengthening the knowledge and skills of teachers
– Supporting students through extracurricular activities and mentoring
– Introducing innovations, including artificial intelligence, into the education system

RESULTS

Enhanced educational resources for computer science and informatics

– All open educational resources available on the net.kabinet platform for primary and secondary schools have been modernized.
– New educational materials have been developed for the Digital World subject.
– Educational content has been developed for six vocational subjects taught in specialized IT classes.

Strengthened teachers' knowledge and skills

– Training delivered to more than 400 primary school teachers on the use of technology and artificial intelligence in teaching.
– Workshops organized for more than 320 teachers and students through the Travelling Petlja initiative in 12 cities across Serbia.

AI-powered educational tools developed

– AI Assistant – a tool that enables registered teachers on the net.kabinet platform to generate classroom assignments and lesson summaries.
– Instruktror – a learning platform offering courses in data analysis (SQL, Python, Excel, data visualization, and AI) as well as computer graphics, with the application of artificial intelligence.

Student support through enriched learning content and mentoring

– Four Summer Programming Schools organized for a total of 400 upper-primary school students.
– Four cycles of the three-month rasPETLJAvanje mentoring programme implemented for beginners and students preparing for programming competitions.
– Two cycles of the STE(A)M Challenge organized for secondary school students, supporting 18 student-led projects addressing challenges in their local communities.

Technical improvements to digital learning tools

– petlja.org further developed as an open-source platform.
– Platform functionalities enhanced to improve the user experience on petlja.org.
– Artificial intelligence integrated into education through the development of the AI Assistant for teachers.