National Physical Fitness Surveillance System – Serbian best practice

The main aims of the National Physical Fitness Surveillance System in Serbia are:

To enable regular testing of all schoolchildren (on regular Physical Education classes) using a systematized and standardized testing approach.
To provide age and gender-specific feedback based on national centile values.
To enable a follow up of the individual and group changes in fitness levels through the children’s growth and development.
To provide recommendations to students and their parents on how to maintain or improve physical fitness level.
To educate students and their parents concerning the importance of lifelong physical activity and the value of health-conscious lifestyles.

Since 2017, system has been implemented regularly by the Curriculum of Physical and health education subject in primary and since 2019 year, in secondary schools in Serbia.
All students aged 9 to 19 years are tested once or twice a year. The measurements are carried out according to a standardized protocol and are incorporated in the regular PE classes (3x45 min).
The leading organization is the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education University of Belgrade which developed the system and is currently working on the software development.
After the assessment, all students receive a personal report including absolute (obtained values) and relative results (percentiles), interpretation of the obtained results and necessary recommendations.