2024

A reform project "Quality education for every child in Montenegro" in cooperation with UNICEF and the Delegation of EU has began. The goal of this reform initiative is the development of a comprehensive Strategy for Education Reform (2025-2035), which will define the vision of education, the main goals and the activities that need to be implemented in order to achieve them. The strategy will cover all levels of education and define the financial framework for its sustainable and long-term realization. The project also includes a series of interventions aimed at improving the quality and fairness of education, as well as ensuring a broad consultative process and mobilization of all actors in the preparation of the new Strategy. The goals planned by the project are fully based on the findings and strategic recommendations of the comprehensive Analysis of the education sector, which was carried out in cooperation with UNICEF.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation has implemented a series of activities related to the prevention of violence in educational institutions. Consultations were held at which the Instruction for Schools on the Division of Responsibilities and Actions for Prevention and in Cases of Violence was presented, and the importance of timely and accurate data entry into the Education Information System (MEIS) on cases of peer violence, as well as the actions of institutions, were highlighted. 

The Ministry adopted and entered into force the Rulebook on Amendments to the Rulebook on Norms and Standards for the Acquisition of Funds from Public Revenues for Institutions Implementing Publicly Valid Educational Programs, on which the National Council for Education gave a positive opinion. It is estimated that the amended norms will affect the increase in the number of professional associates in educational institutions by 60 persons, that is, by about 28%. For the first time, the possibility of hiring three professional associates in institutions with over 1,400 children/pupils was determined.
Also, with the amendments to the Rulebook, for the first time, the conditions that the institution must fulfill in order to be able to hire an assistant in the prevention of violence and vandalism in the school are prescribed, and that is, an institution with more than 700 pupils can be approved for one person in the position of an assistant in preventing violence and vandalism, in accordance with the needs of the institution.

The Examination center implemented a Public Call for inclusion in the Training Program for a licensed examiner in the process of obtaining the professional qualification of Assistant in the prevention of violence and vandalism at school. JU Higher Vocational School Police Academy implements the Education Program for obtaining the professional qualification of Assistant in preventing violence and vandalism in schools.

During 2023, constant work was done on enriching the content of "Digionica", an online platform for self-learning. Emphasis is placed on the creation and systematization of digital content that will be placed on the platform, as well as on the education of teaching staff on the use of this platform. In 2023, about 1,000 teachers were educated, and the platform for online self-learning contains 1,116 courses, 12,231 lessons and 562 quizzes, in 58 categories. The total number of platform users (teachers, children and parents) is 32,294. The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation presented the "Digital School" concept and the "Digionica" platform at the International Book and Education Fair in Podgorica and won an award for the improvement of electronic publishing.

In the context of career guidance and counseling, the 2024-2026 Career Guidance and Counseling Development Program is being drafted, planned for adoption in the 2nd quarter of 2024. 

In accordance with the National Gender Equality Strategy, an analysis of the subject programs and textbooks is underway, and the media presentation of the results will follow. This activity is implemented in cooperation with OECD and UNICEF.

2023

With regards to the Strategy of digitalization of the education system 2022-2027, with the Action Plan for 2022 and 2023, the implementation is ongoing. The focus is on the improvement of teachers and pupils' digital competences, as well as schools equipment and development of a safe environment through the self-care skills of pupils. Workshops have been developed and organized in 5 schools.

A support program for pupils from Ukraine is being implemented, focusing on socio-emotional competences and support through the engagement of Ukrainian pedagogical workers as supportive associates, from the engagement of a special teacher. The Ministry of Education approved the increase in the number of classes in schools where a larger number of foreign students were enrolled. Support for learning the Montenegrin language as a non-native language according to the publicly valid subject program was implemented with two additional lessons per week financed from the Budget of the Ministry of Education was implemented. In cooperation with UNICEF, textbooks are provided for the Montenegrin language as a non-native subject. Bureau for Educational Services developed Guidelines for the inclusion of students from other speaking areas in educational institutions in Montenegro, as well as Guidelines for the evaluation and assessment of students from other speaking areas in educational institutions in Montenegro.

In December 2022, the Bureau for Educational Services and the Examination Center launched the PISA 2025 - Science in Focus program, which was supported by the Ministry of Education. The expert team of the Bureau for Educational Services compared the national curriculum in natural sciences and the PISA 2025 Science Framework. The general conclusion is that there are no significant differences in terms of content, but that there is a difference in the approach to science and the factors that affect it have been identified.

Based on that, a program was created with a focus on two aspects of teaching natural sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Geography and Physics):
1. developing scientific competences through experiments 
2. changing attitudes towards science by encouraging a growth mindset.

In the first phase of the program, which lasted from March to June 2023, 95% of all elementary schools (students in grades 6-9) and secondary schools (grades 1-3) were included. Published PISA items which check the understanding and application of knowledge from the natural group of subjects were translated into the Montenegrin and Albanian languages and made available to schools. Most of the activities are devoted to knowing the stages of scientific research and interpreting data based on experiments performed at home (due to unequal conditions for conducting experiments in the classroom) with the use of teaching materials from the Digital Classroom. Schools organized Science Days and posted the reports on their website. It is planned to train teachers to write tasks in which scientific knowledge is applied to solve problems from everyday life, as well as to involve schools in environmental actions.

2022

The education process in elementary schools started on 5th September, the duration of the school lessons is now 45 minutes as it was before the pandemic and the curricula is adjusted to that duration. 

An Analysis of the education sector in cooperation with UNICEF has been finalized. This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the education sector (ESA) in Montenegro and serves as an input for the future development of a long-term evidence-based education sector plan for Montenegro to ensure quality education for all. ESA is a joint venture between the Ministry, UNICEF and a consulting team led by company Sofreco that supported the analysis. ESA focuses on preschool, primary and secondary education. The study presents a comprehensive analysis of the education sector that draws on a wide range of available secondary data, previous studies and research papers, as well as new evidence gathered through stakeholder interviews and job satisfaction surveys. The focus is on quantitative data covering the period 2015-2020, as the last complete reporting year for which data is available. Tertiary and private education are outside the scope of this study. The ESA is aligned with the Methodological Guidelines for Education Sector Analysis, developed by UNESCO, the World Bank (WB), UNICEF and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

The Strategy of digitalization of the education system 2022-2027, with the Action Plan for 2022 and 2023 has been adopted. The Digitalization of the educational system should encourage greater use of ICT in teaching in order to improve the quality and inclusiveness of the teaching process, but also to influence the development of digital competencies of students and employees in educational institutions. In addition, it needs to improve and modernize all processes in the education system, from electronic pedagogical records to data exchange and the launch of a range of electronic services for citizens and other institutions. In this regard, three strategic goals have been identified:

• improvement of the Education Information System,

• development and improvement of the digital ecosystem and development and

• Improving digital skills and competences.
   

The Digital School Online Learning Platform has been launched. The Digital school is a platform for learning, teaching, communication and cooperation in the digital environment. It is the basis for creating a secure, supportive, efficient and comprehensive digital education system. The digital school is designed to bring together learning resources for children and adolescents, parents, carers, educators, teachers and other professionals in the education system, as well as to support everyone in developing digital skills through the use of digital tools and distance learning services. Also, the Digital School includes an information portal and a web directory of educational resources on the Internet. It is designed to ensure continuity of learning and reduce the gap in access to learning resources through a sustainable, high-quality and long-term solution for digital learning, which is complementary to teaching and learning in the classroom and supporting children, educators, teachers and families.