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Serbia's School Phone Ban: Where the Draft Law Stands in 2026
Not yet. As of October 2026 Serbia has no national law banning phones in schools; each school sets its own rules. The Ombudsman has drafted a law that would ban phones in primary and secondary schools for the whole school day, breaks included, but it is still in consultation and has not reached parliament.
Today there is no nationwide rule. Schools may set phone rules in their own internal rulebooks, so practice varies from school to school. Without a national law, staff say enforcement is weak: they cannot legally search students, and a student can simply say they did not bring a phone. The draft law aims to replace this patchwork with one rule for all primary and secondary schools.
In December 2025 Ombudsman Zoran Pašalić announced a draft Law on Banning Mobile Phone Use in Primary and Secondary Schools, reviewed by a youth panel. In January 2026 Education Minister Dejan Vuk Stanković said restrictions will come, with a full ban and a partial one both under debate. Consultations followed, including in Leskovac on 4 June 2026. In May the Ombudsman said the bill could go to parliament in autumn 2026. As of late September it had not been tabled.
The draft would have students hand in phones on arrival and collect them after the last lesson, with lockable lockers discussed. Students with documented medical needs could keep phones, and teachers could plan supervised use. Some reports mention fines of up to 100,000 dinars, but the final text is not published. Some schools act already: from 1 October 2026 OŠ Lazar Savatić in Zemun has grades 5-8 put phones in locked boxes during lessons.
Whatever the final law requires of Serbian osnovne and srednje škole, lockable pouches let students keep their own phone, locked, from the first bell to the last, so the school does not collect, store or answer for devices. Before The Internet ships lockable phone pouches and unlocking bases worldwide, including to Serbia, and can print the school's name or crest on them. Schools buy them outright: one price, no subscription, lease or per-student annual licence. Send us your student numbers and any written quote you already have, and we will beat it.
Frequently asked questions
When will the phone ban take effect in Serbia?
No date is set. As of late September 2026 the Ombudsman's draft was still in consultation and had not entered parliamentary procedure, so it cannot take effect until parliament adopts it.
Would the ban cover breaks?
Under the Ombudsman's draft, yes. Students would hand in phones on arrival and get them back only after classes end, though the minister has said a partial restriction is also being considered.
Can our school ban phones now, before the law passes?
Yes. Schools can already set phone rules in their internal rulebooks, and some, such as OŠ Lazar Savatić in Zemun, collect phones during lessons.
Related reading
School phone bans by country · Phone-free schools toolkit · How to roll out phone pouches in a school
Written by the team at Before The Internet, a Toronto-based phone-free company that rents lockable phone pouches for events across North America and sells them to schools and venues worldwide, shipping purchases to any country.
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