National Early Child Development Center “Ukras Sveta” to be Formed in Bezanijska Kosa – EUR 22 Million to be Invested in Area of 17,000 m2 with Pools, Playrooms, Zoo…

In two years, Serbia will get the National Center for Early Child Development and Inclusion “Ukras Sveta”, which will provide an all-encompassing approach to all questions and interventions pertaining to early child development, which is especially important for children with developmental issues, but also their parents, said Tamara Vucic, the wife of the president of Serbia.

She said that it was a state project in which a sum of 20 to 22 million euros is to be invested.

In an interview for Politika, Tamara Vucic said that she hoped that the foundation stone for the center, in a location in Bezanijska Kosa, would be laid down in late 2021 and that the works would be finished in the summer of 2023.

As she said, on the planned area of around 17,000 m2, the center will have a pool, physical therapy rooms, a sensor room, a training center, a park with a zoo, a space for hippotherapy, a garden for the growing of plants…

Talking about the idea to found such a center, Tamara Vucic pointed out that, according to the majority of the research carried out, the first three to five years of life were the basis, creating and determining up to 70% of the child’s subsequent development. She emphasized that the focus of the entire community should be on early development if we wanted a healthy and developed society.

She said that the institution would be the place for all questions and information for parents and children and even for professionals who focus on children and their development and added that it was designed to provide diagnostic and therapy support to children and their parents and caretakers, as well as specialized training for all those who are active in the early development of children.

The intention, she says, is to create a place also dedicated to children at the risk of developmental issue, that is, children with late development or developmental difficulties, as well as children who are developing regularly.

Education programs, aid to parents

Among the priority activities would be education programs, that is, training programs for medical workers, parents, caretakers and others involved in early child development.

– The institution will be run by people who know much more than me about all this, and I’m only there to raise awareness of a topic that is not discussed enough, and which should be given our full attention and dedication – Tamara Vucic said.

She added that the parents would also have the “Ukras Sveta” YouTube channel at their disposal, as well as the www.ukrassveta.rs website, which is yet to be launched. The plan is to also have workshops and panel discussions about early development.

She said that, according to her findings, that kind of a state project and an all-encompassing approach to early child development under one roof did not exist anywhere in Europe and even beyond and added that the project started from scratch.

According to her, the project requires a multisector approach, which is why a working group was formed, including ministers Zlatibor Loncar, Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, Branko Ruzic and Ratko Dmitrovic, but also the best experts from the fields of autism and early development and representatives of associations for helping people with autism and other institutions.

– The center will be a place for education for all and we will thereby also strengthen the development advisory centers, of which there are currently 24 in Serbia, and the employees at these and other institutions of the primary type will have the opportunity to attend lectures and go through professional development at this Center – said Tamara Vucic.

National Center for Early Child Development

Ukras sveta

Tamara Vučić

Zlatibor Lončar

Darija Kisić Tepavčević

Branko Ružić

Ratko Dmitrović

Bežanijska kosa

autism

childcare

development

experts