2024170 Years of Vocational Education in Serbia - First Day Cover

By the Decree of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević in March 1854, the first vocational school in Serbia was founded – the First Vocational School, for the planned and systematic preparation of personnel necessary for the new military factory (Topolivnica). The proposal to establish a boarding-type school, based on the model of vocational schools in France, was sent to the Prince by Charles Loubry at the end of 1853. The school, with notable success, participated in science and technology fairs in Paris in 1889 and London in 1898. By the Decree from 1867, the school was named the Military-Vocational School. The school resumed its work in 1888 through the efforts of the Director of the Institute, Pavel Šafárik, and received the status of a secondary school. The Military-Vocational School grew into a leading vocational school in the Balkans in the time before the First World War. Before the Second World War, only trades necessary for the military industry were represented in the school programme. The new teaching plan adopted in 1940 could not be implemented due to the outbreak of war.