In the Western Balkans, compulsory education usually starts at the age of 6 or 7 and lasts until the end of primary school. Secondary school is optional.
The school years begins on September 1 and ends in mid-June. It is divided into two terms.
The 1st term lasts from September until December, and the 2nd term is from January to June.
There are three four vacation breaks during the year, depending on the country.
The Morning and Afternoon Shift
One of the biggest differences is the morning and afternoon shift. As most city-based schools accept large numbers of students, but are often not spacious enough to fit all of them, they have implemented a very common shift system.
There are usually only two shifts in these schools – morning and afternoon. The morning shift usually lasts from 7 AM until 1 PM, when it is replaced by the second shift students who come to school at that time and go home around 7 PM.
Schools usually have different rules for shifts and they can apply them independently. In most of the schools, shifts are switched weekly. However, in rarer cases, they are also switched monthly, per-semester or annually. In some schools, shifts do not switch at all but remain the same throughout the years; however, this is quite rare.
In primary schools, students are usually divided according to the grades they attend – lower grades (1st to 4th) belong to one shift, and upper grades (5th to 8th) to the other. In secondary schools, the situation can vary depending on the school rules – in some cases, it is year-related, and in others, it is course-related.
School Day
An average school day in the Western Balkans is around 7 hours long. Students have five to seven 45-minute classes in a day, with 5-minute breaks in between the classes and one 15-minute break, called ‘The Great Break’, which is usually spent eating lunch or walking around the school.
From the 5th grade of primary school until the last year of secondary school, each subject is taught by a different teacher (who must have at least a college degree in the subject). In some schools, students switch between classrooms every peripd, while in others, they have only one classroom all year.
Class Size and Structure
The average class size is 20-30 students.
Class members are assigned randomly a few weeks before the first grade of primary school. In most schools, there are 3 and more classes (up to 10 in larger schools). Each class has its unique name. For example, if there are four classes in the first grade, they will be named First 1, First 2, First 3 and First 4. After they pass to the next grade, they become Second 1, Second 2, and so on.
The class ‘number’ and the students belonging to the class remain the same throughout all eight years of primary school (or three/four years of secondary school).
The Marking System
Marks given to primary and secondary school students are as follows:
- 5 – Excellent
- 4 – Very Well
- 3 – Good
- 2 – Sufficient
- 1 – Insufficient
The only exception are 1st grade primary school students; they are not given numeral marks, but certain written remarks or doodles such as flowers or smiley faces.
In Balkan countries, students don’t have final exams. Instead, during each of the two school terms, they are given oral and written tests by their teachers. Teachers can decide on the number and difficulty level of the tests on their own. On average, there are about two written and two oral tests per subject every term.
Students are given marks according to how well they perform on the tests. At the end of a term, teachers sum up the marks and decide on ‘The Final Mark’. In most cases, the Final Mark is the average of the marks received during the term. However, teachers can independently decide on the final marks, so they are not always calculated mathematically.
Final marks are considered to be ‘Official marks’ and they cannot be changed. Students get official final marks for all subjects except Religion and Civics. When all final marks are added up, the result is ‘The Average Final Mark’, which can be from 2.00 to 5.00 and it shows the overall students’ performance during the term.
The Average Final Mark is given two times in a year – at the end of the first term and the end of the second term, the latter one being more important. At the end of the 1st term, if a student receives one or more Insufficient (1) marks, their Average Final Mark will be 1.00, regardless of other marks. They can have as many 1s as possible; however, they need to study really hard in the 2nd term in order to improve and correct them.
On the other hand, if a student receives 1 in one or two subjects, they need to take The Correction Exam in late August, during the summer vacation, about two weeks before the next school year begins. The Correction Exam is a chance to improve the marks (and if they do really well on the exam, they can even get a 3).
However, in case a student receives more than two official 1s at the end of the 2nd term, they have to repeat the grade/year.
Western Balkans Culture 