OSCE Mission to Serbia supports first online training course for police

Some 100 Serbian Interior Ministry police officers took part in an OSCE-supported e-learning professional development course on communication skills from 16 January to 18 February 2012 in Belgrade. This was the first time the Ministry staff received training online.

The content of the course, which had already been taught in the traditional classroom setting, was converted to an online platform by police instructors and administrators of the Serbian Interior Ministry. The OSCE Mission to Serbia previously helped them to improve their practical skills and theoretical knowledge in order to create the e-learning platform.

The platform allows police officers from across Serbia to take part in free online professional development courses to enhance their skills in tactical and assertive communication, social interaction and verbal and non-verbal communication through extensive online interaction with other participants and course instructors.

This pilot five-week course was the first in a series of online courses which the Interior Ministry will offer to its employees across Serbia throughout 2012.

In 2011, the Serbian Interior Ministry in partnership with the OSCE adopted a strategy on e-learning aimed at modernizing its police training and education system.