September 1 is approaching, which means it is time to start preparing for the new school year. Families need to buy books, notebooks, school supplies and clothes for school-age children, and these are far from insignificant expenses, especially for families with several children.
For the 2026/2027 school year, the City of Belgrade has once again provided financial support of 20,000 dinars per child. Primary and secondary school students are eligible, regardless of whether they attend a public or private school in Belgrade. The money is paid directly into the account of the parent or legal guardian, who decides how to spend the support – on books, school supplies or clothing. This is therefore not state aid, but a measure financed by the City of Belgrade from its own budget. For 2026, four billion dinars have been allocated in the city budget for this support. This year, the 20,000 dinars will be paid in four instalments of 5,000 dinars each, in June, July, August and September.
Belgrade is not the only city providing financial assistance to parents to help equip their children for the new school year. Other local governments also have their own programmes providing support for textbooks, but there is no single amount or uniform model across Serbia. Cities and municipalities decide themselves whether to finance textbooks from their budgets or provide parents with financial assistance.
As for the larger cities, Niš, for example, provides parents of primary school students with 20,000 dinars per student from the city budget for textbooks. The decision was adopted by the City Assembly this year.
For the 2026/2027 school year, Kragujevac has, for the first time, provided free or subsidised textbooks for students from first to fourth grade, allocating around 37 million dinars for this purpose.
Novi Sad has gone a step further by providing free textbooks for all primary school students, from first to eighth grade.
Even smaller cities in Serbia are allocating funds from their municipal budgets to follow the trend already seen in larger cities. Sremska Mitrovica is providing funds for a basic textbook package for students attending public primary schools. For 2026/27, a total of 54 million dinars has been allocated from the city budget for this purpose, and a total of 5,260 students will receive the support. The amount depends on the grade the student attends. The largest amounts are provided to parents of students in the final grades of primary school: 14,000 dinars for eighth grade and 12,000 for seventh grade; 12,000 and 10,000 dinars are allocated for sixth and fifth grade, respectively; students in third and fourth grade receive 9,000 dinars, while those in first and second grade receive 8,000 dinars. Parents who are already entitled to free textbooks through the state programme can choose whether to use the state assistance or the financial support provided by the City of Sremska Mitrovica.
Subotica is also financing textbooks and workbooks for primary school students for the 2026/27 school year. Students are required to return the textbooks in good condition at the end of the school year so that they can be used by subsequent generations. Damaged textbooks will be replaced with new ones, as will workbooks, which are purchased anew each year. By reusing second-hand books, the City of Subotica saves money from its municipal budget while also teaching children to treat books and shared resources responsibly.
Sombor has been financing textbooks for first-grade students since the 2023/2024 school year. The following year, the model was extended to second-grade students, and in the 2026/2027 school year, third-grade students will also receive textbooks. Around 25 million dinars has been allocated this year for the first three grades. The plan is to provide free textbooks for fourth grade as well next year. This is not the only measure implemented by the City of Sombor to make education more accessible and ease the burden on family budgets. For all children from families receiving social assistance, the city fully covers the cost of secondary school students’ transportation, while for all other students it covers 40% of the cost of monthly passes.
Pirot is financing free textbooks for the 2026/27 school year for the third child and every subsequent child in a family, as well as for primary school-age children from families receiving financial social assistance.
In other words, local governments make decisions on a city-by-city basis, in accordance with their budgets for the given year, on whether to provide assistance to parents and children at the start of the new school year, how much to provide and in what form.
On the other hand, the state, through the Ministry of Education, has a separate programme providing free textbooks, but it is not intended for all students. For the 2026/27 school year, the Ministry has provided 919,156 textbook units for around 96,000 primary school students, with 1.021 billion dinars allocated for the programme. The programme is intended for specific categories of students, including children from financially disadvantaged families, students following an individual education plan (IOP), and students who need adapted textbooks (in Braille or large print).
Students from large families with three or more children enrolled in the education system are also entitled to free textbooks. This entitlement applies to the child attending primary school, generally the oldest child who started primary education first, unless the parent chooses otherwise.
Free textbooks are also intended for students from single-parent families in which the other parent is unknown or deceased, as well as children with rare diseases and those entitled to assistance and care from another person. They are also available to first- and second-grade students with partial or permanent hearing loss who require adapted textbooks in electronic format containing content in Serbian Sign Language.
Source: Biznis.rs, 21.08.2026