Adult education in Montenegro takes place as follows:
• formal education;
• informal education;
• informal learning;
• self-education.

In accordance with Article 29 of the Law on Adult Education, adults may, in order to obtain a national professional qualification or part of it, key competences and micro-qualifications, check, confirm, or prove the knowledge, skills and competences, regardless of the method of their acquisition, in accordance with a special regulation regulating national professional qualifications.

Publicly valid adult education is he education that is acquired according to a publicly valid adapted educational program of primary and secondary education or a part of that program, i.e. an education program for acquiring a national professional qualification, it's part, key competence, or micro-qualification.

According to the Law on National Vocational Qualifications (hereafter: the Law), an individual can acquire a national professional qualification in different ways, namely:
• at the end of the module when the publicly valid educational program is based on several professional standards;
• by checking knowledge, skills and competences after completing the adult education program in accordance with the examination catalog;
• direct verification of knowledge, skills and competences in accordance with the examination catalog, which enables the acquisition of qualifications based on previous experience, informal learning or independent education.

In this way, the Law establishes a flexible, inclusive and market-oriented system in which different ways of acquiring knowledge is evaluated in a transparent and standardized manner, and the public document has full legal and market value. Modularized programs enable adults, those who have left education or students with special educational needs, to gradually acquire professional qualifications through modules based on occupational standards.

In the previous period, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation prepared the Analysis of validation of non-formal and informal learning. 

The recommendations of the Analysis are the following:
• clearly define the procedures and steps in the validation process, as well as precisely determine the competencies of all institutions involved in the validation process;
• develop an online platform that would provide information on validation opportunities, validation procedures and connections with organizations that carry out validation, which would be of great importance to all interested parties;
• improve the quality and adaptability of educational programs and programs of education in order to better meet the needs of the labor market, with a special emphasis on the digitization process and education for IT and green skills.

Finally, new education programs were adopted, the number of licensed examiners for the acquisition of national professional qualifications and key competencies was increased, and a software for issuing certificates was created, which includes a database of licensed examiners. In the coming period, the plan is to adopt bylaws which will further improve the process of recognition of prior learning and the organization of info-sessions in cooperation with the Employment Agency, which will provide participants with clear and precise information about the available opportunities for adult education.