At the opening ceremony of the conference “New Technologies in Education”, today in Belexpocentar in Belgrade, the attendees were addressed by Snežana Marković, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Tatjana Matić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications and the British Ambassador to Serbia, Denis Keefe.

At the conference and fair which is to be held on 27 and 28 February, visitors will have the opportunity to hear more than 50 lectures prepared by experts from the UK and the region, but also by our teachers who are going to present examples of good practice in the use of ICT in teaching based on their own experience.

The aim of the conference is to improve the quality of education by raising awareness of the importance of ICT use in education, providing opportunities for professional development and networking with potential partners from Serbia and abroad.

“The relevant Ministry of Telecommunications set the development and investment in education through the use of modern technology as one of its strategic goals and we strive to achieve this goal through the projects and competitions that we conduct,” said State Secretary Tatjana Matić.

The State Secretary pointed out that digital literacy is now a prerequisite for further education and employment in almost all sectors, adding that she believes that digital literacy is now part of the process of lifelong learning.

Teachers and university professors from all over Serbia and from the region talked about the strategic, but also the everyday possibility of using ICT in schools and colleges, and a special segment of the conference was devoted to inclusive education with the support of new technologies.

The conference, organized by the British Council, the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the British Embassy in Belgrade and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce will follow the segment of the fair where more than 40 companies from Serbia, the region and the United Kingdom are going to present practical solutions in the field of ICT in education.

Visitors to the fair will be able to attend a lecture in the digital classroom to see what the internet textbooks look like, why the learning process is more effective when there is a robot in the classroom and how social networks can be used as a didactic tool. It is expected that over 2,000 visitors will attend this year’s conference.