Serbia’s Ministry of Education has officially integrated mandatory one-day student field trips to the upcoming EXPO 2027 Belgrade exhibition into the national curriculum, triggering fierce condemnation from opposition parties who accuse the government of turning schools into promotional tools.
According to newly updated rulebooks outlining the educational calendar for the 2026/2027 academic year, both primary and secondary school students will be scheduled to make “study visits” to the specialized exhibition between May 17 and June 25, 2027, under the event’s official slogan, “Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All.”
“Cheap Propaganda” to Artificially Inflate Attendance
The decision drew immediate fire from Janko Veselinović, a presidency member of the opposition Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), who labeled the initiative a scandalous overreach.
Veselinović argued that the mandate has nothing to do with genuine education and everything to do with political optics for the ruling regime’s highly expensive infrastructure project.
“Instead of organizing student visits to Serbia’s numerous neglected museums, cultural centers, and natural landmarks that actually educate younger generations, the regime is forcing schools to participate in their cheap propaganda,” Veselinović stated.
- Artificially Inflated Metrics: The opposition claims the true motive behind the decree is to forcefully and artificially pump up visitor numbers for a project they describe as a “flawed and overly expensive endeavor” that bypassed regular legal procurement procedures.
- Demands for Reversal: The SSP has formally demanded that the Ministry of Education immediately suspend and annul the decision before the public school system is completely subordinated to the interests of a single ruling political party.
PSG: Schools Are Not State Promotion Centers
The Free Citizens Movement (PSG) mirrored these concerns, releasing a statement emphasizing that public schools must never function as marketing hubs for state-sponsored projects.
While the movement noted it is standard practice for students to visit educational fairs or cultural exhibitions, they drew a hard line at institutionalizing a specific government infrastructure project within the formal academic calendar.
- Institutionalization Concerns: The PSG warned against creating a precedent where public schools are assigned the explicit task of boosting the public profile of state projects.
- Lack of Transparency: The movement has demanded that the Ministry of Education publicly clarify whether parents, teachers, school principals, or educational experts were ever consulted before this special mandate was fast-tracked into the school year.
