Mathematical Gymnasium (Belgrade)

The project to create a separate school for geeks in Yugoslavia was developed by a group of mathematicians, physicists and teachers led by Academician Voin Daevich, a former teacher of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Belgrade - they took the model of the A. Kolmogorov School at Moscow State University as the basis ^[1] . The project ran counter to the then socialist ideology of the country, the authors were accused of elitism , nevertheless, in 1966 the Belgrade City Council nevertheless approved the opening of a special mathematical gymnasium, and since September it began to work - in the building- zaduzhbin of Persida and Rista Milenkovich, built in 1929 year. For the first academic year, three entrance exams were required, as a result of which 56 students were selected ^[2] .

In the period 1977-1989, the Mathematical Gymnasium experienced difficulties in connection with the ongoing state educational reforms, as a result of which it was actually integrated into the general system of secondary vocational education and thereby largely lost its uniqueness. The then director, Milan Raspopovich, made every effort to restore the special status of the school and obtain the right to its own educational program. As a result of these efforts, in 1988 the gymnasium was officially returned to its original task, giving it the status of an educational institution of “experimental” education, and a year later a new curriculum was officially published.

“Experimentality” disappeared from documents only in 1995, when the Ministry of Education granted it the status of a specialized school for talented / gifted students in mathematics, computer science, physics, and other natural sciences. At the same time, it was recognized as a school of special national importance - it became the first such school in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

Pupils of elementary schools at the age of 11-12 are accepted to the Mathematical Gymnasium, but for this they need to pass rather complicated entrance exams. Most students enter here on a free basis, but there are also additional paid places, accounting for approximately 20% of the total number of applicants. About 550 students are trained here annually; as of 2011, the gymnasium graduated more than 8,000 students, of which 250 subsequently became doctors of science and 400 candidates of science. The subjects are taught by about 160 teachers, many of them have a Ph.D. , and most professors themselves are graduates of this institution. In addition to full-time teachers, university teachers are often invited to carry out the educational process, in particular, teachers from the University of Belgrade, the Belgrade Institute of Physics, and the Mathematical Institute at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} .

Pupils of the gymnasium successfully perform at the International School Olympiads in mathematics, physics, astrophysics, computer science, astronomy and geology. Over its long history, the school has won more than 400 medals of various denominations at the international level, occupying one of the first places in the world by this indicator ^[7] .

After graduation, many students enter prestigious foreign universities with which the school has concluded cooperation agreements. For example, the school’s partners are educational institutions such as Moscow State University , the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research , University College London , Columbia University , Stanford University , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , University of California at Berkeley and others. Most, however, receive a scholarship for admission to local Belgrade University ^[8] .

On May 30, 1999, one of the best students of the Mathematics Gymnasium, 15-year-old child prodigy Sanya Milenkovich , winner of numerous olympiads in mathematics, physics and chemistry, was killed as a result of NATO bombing on Varvarinsky Bridge. Her death caused a great public outcry and was a shock for other students of the gymnasium. President Slobodan Milosevic subsequently at the Hague Tribunal called her a mathematical genius and gave as an illustrative example, talking about the victims of the bombing ^{[9] [10]} .

Math gymnasium was attended by such influential people as Patriarch Serbian Pavel , Patriarch Irenaeus of Serbia , President Boris Tadic , Prime Minister Zoran Dzhindzhich , Crown Prince of Yugoslavia Alexander Karageorgievich . Celebratory concerts on the occasion of the school's thirty and forty years of anniversary took place on the stage of the National Theater with the financial support of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica ^{[11] [12]} .

• Official website (Serb.)