2025
On 13 March 2025, the Government of Montenegro appointed new members of the Ethics Committee in the third convocation. The mandate of the members of the Ethics Committee lasts four years.
The Ethics Committee carries out the work on the preservation, improvement, protection and promotion of academic integrity, as well as the prevention of all forms of violation of academic integrity. The Ethics Committee adopts and monitors the application of the Charter of Ethics, promotes the principles of academic integrity, decides on a proposal to determine violations of academic integrity for citizens of Montenegro whose work has been published, i.e. a qualification obtained outside of Montenegro, gives an opinion on regulations and initiatives concerning academic ethics.
2024
In September 2024, the Assembly passed the Law on Amendments to the Law on Higher Education, which increased the amount of student loans and scholarships for the best students. With this Law, the amount of the student loan and scholarship for the best students is determined by the Government, at the proposal of the Ministry, depending on the available funds, whereby the amount of the student loan cannot be lower than 25% of the minimum wage for employees up to level V of the education qualification, and the amount of the scholarship for the best students cannot be lower than 50% of the minimum wage for employees up to level V education qualification. This means that the minimum amount of the student loan will be 150 euros per month instead of the 112.50 euros, while the monthly scholarship amount for the best students will be 300 euros per month instead of 225 euros as it was before.
In September 2024, the Parliament passed the Law on Amendments to the Law on Professional Training of Persons with Higher Education, which increased the monthly financial compensation for beneficiaries of professional training for persons with higher education from the current 450 euros per month to 600 euros per month. The professional training program allows persons with acquired higher education, without work experience, who are registered with the Employment Agency, to acquire knowledge, skills and competences for independent performance of work and passing the appropriate professional exam during the nine-month professional training at the chosen employer.
In July 2024, the Government of Montenegro adopted the Higher Education Strategy 2024-2027 with the Action Plan 2024-2025, with the focus on the following:
• Improve the model of practical teaching in Higher Education, which will provide all students with adequate practical teaching;
• Define clear criteria and conditions for enrollment at Higher Education Institutions;
• Ensure the implementation of learning outcomes in a thorough manner, as well as their evaluation;
• Continue with activities of quality assurance of higher education;
• Ensure the compliance of the Agency for Control and Quality Assurance of Higher Education with ESG and its registration in EQAR through the adequate control process;
• Develop the offer of lifelong learning programmes, while monitoring the quality of the implementation of those programs and ensuring the recognition of non-formal and informal education;
• Further improvement in the area of student standards;
• Internationalization and alignment with EU recommendations and guidelines from documents adopted in the process of implementing the principles of the Bologna Declaration, as well as other declarations to which Montenegro is a signatory.
In July 2024, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation adopted the Rulebook on Amendments to the Rulebook on the Method of Publishing a Public Invitation, Procedure and Criteria for Professional Training, which improved the method of publishing a public invitation, the procedure for registering persons with higher education who do not have a job experience in a certain level of education and is on the records of the Employment Agency of Montenegro as an unemployed person.
In July 2024, the Ministry passed the:
• Rulebook on Amendments to the Rulebook on the Criteria, Method, Conditions and Amount of Fees for Exercising the Right to Accommodation and Meals in the Dormitory and Participation in the Transportation of Pupils and Students
• Rulebook on Amendments to the Rulebook on the Criteria, Method, Conditions and Amount of Fees for Exercising the Right to a Student Loan and Scholarship
These regulations significantly improved the procedures for awarding scholarships to the best students, exercising the right to a student loan, as well as the procedure for exercising the right to accommodation and food in student dormitories.
The Parliament of Montenegro, at the proposal of the Government of Montenegro, appointed a new Council for Higher Education. The work of improving and developing higher education is carried out by the Council for Higher Education. The council, among other things, analyzes the state and achievements in higher education, prescribes conditions and criteria for selection into academic titles, gives an opinion on regulations in the field of higher education, cooperates with institutions of higher education in ensuring and improving quality. The Council has seven members who are appointed from the ranks of prominent experts in the fields of higher education, science, art, students and the economy.
At the Ministerial Conference, held in Tirana, Republic of Albania from May 29-30, 2024, the Tirana Communique was adopted. This document represents the future common action framework in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), encouraging the implementation of six fundamental values of the higher education system: academic freedom, academic integrity, the autonomy of higher education institutions, student participation in management structures of HEIs, and agencies for quality assurance, as well as the public responsibility of both, institutions and decision-makers in the higher education system. By signing the Tirana Communique, Montenegro proved its commitment to fulfilling EHEA goals.
The Assembly passed the Law on Amendments to the Law on Higher Education ("Official Gazette of Montenegro", No. 125/23) which was amended at the initiative of members of the Parliament. The Law entered into force on 8 January 2024. It provides students who are enrolled at the University of Montenegro under the programs adopted on the basis of the Law on University ("Official Gazette of Montenegro", No. 37/ 92 and 6/94), an extended deadline for completing studies until the end of the academic year 2023/2024.
The Assembly adopted the Law on Confirmation of the Agreement on the Recognition of Qualifications in the Field of Higher Education in the Western Balkans ("Official Gazette of Montenegro", number 11/23), which entered into force on 23 February 2024. It was signed by the representatives of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, in Berlin on 3 November 2022. This Agreement regulates the recognition of higher education qualifications, the continuation of studies and access to the unregulated labor market in each of the signatory countries. The agreement applies to higher education qualifications obtained at public accredited institutions of higher education in the signatory countries.
At the session of 28 March, 2024, the Government appointed one member of the Ethics Committee, whereby the Ethics Committee, in full composition, continued its work on preserving, improving, protecting and promoting academic integrity and preventing all forms of violations of academic integrity.
Agency for Control and Quality Assurance of Higher Education issued, on December 29, 2023, the certificate of accreditation for the first joint master's academic interdisciplinary study program. Maritime environmental protection and management, which will be organized by the Maritime Faculty, University of Montenegro, in cooperation with the University of Durrës and the University of Valona, Republic of Albania, to obtain a joint diploma, and the teaching will be conducted in English. In March 2024, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation licensed the first joint master's academic interdisciplinary study program
2023
In January 2023, the Collective Agreement on the amendment of the Collective Agreement for the University of Montenegro was signed, which stipulated that the coefficients of complexity of the employees would be increased by 20% from 1 February 2023; from 1 January 2024 an additional 10% and from 1 January 2025 for an additional 10%. In case of changed macroeconomic parameters during 2023 and 2024, the complexity coefficients can be additionally considered. The scope of application of the Collective agreement refers to employees who work at the University of Montenegro, i.e. teaching assistants, administrative and technical staff of the University, who are not covered by the amendments to the Law on Salaries of Public Sector Employees, which were related to the increase of the coefficient for the titles of full professor, associate professor and assistant professor at the university.
In February, the Government of Montenegro approved the Draft Law on Confirmation of the Agreement on the Recognition of Qualifications in the Field of Higher Education in the Western Balkans and sent it to the Assembly for confirmation which happened on 3rd April 2023. The agreement on the recognition of qualifications in the field of higher education in the Western Balkans was signed on 3 November 2022 in Berlin, as part of the Berlin process, and is a framework document that is identical for all signatory countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro). The agreement defines the automatic procedure for the recognition of foreign educational documents obtained at public accredited institutions of higher education in the signatory countries.
In June 2023, the Ministry of Education adopted three regulations that improved student and student standards, namely:
- Rulebook on detailed criteria, amount and conditions for awarding scholarships to talented primary and secondary school students, which prescribes detailed criteria and conditions for awarding a scholarship to a talented primary and secondary school student who shows special sense, interest, curiosity in certain teaching subjects, i.e. fields and the ability for thought and creative processes and achieves outstanding results, as well as scholarships for deficient qualifications to a regular student of a vocational school who is educated according to an educational program for deficient qualifications.
- Rulebook on the criteria, manner, conditions and amount of compensation for exercising the right to a student loan and scholarship, which more closely prescribes the criteria, manner, conditions and amount of compensation for exercising the right to a student loan and scholarship for the best students.
- Rulebook on the criteria, method, conditions and amount of compensation for exercising the right to accommodation and food in the dormitory and participation in transport, which prescribes the criteria, method and sequence for the admission of pupils and students, the price of accommodation and food in pupil and student dormitories, as well as the criteria for transportation participation for primary and secondary school students and students at higher education institutions.
In June 2023, the Ministry of Education licensed the Academic Program in Business and Economics at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Montenegro. This is the first study program at the University of Montenegro where teaching will be conducted in English. By licensing this study program, the mobility of students will be improved and higher education in Montenegro will be better recognized by foreign students.