The Book of Changes laid the foundation for the education system we have today. All laws in the field of pre-university education have been made based on the settings given in the Book of Changes. As part of these comprehensive changes in education in Montenegro, general secondary and professional education found its place.
The past year of work of this composition of the Ministry of Education has shown that it is time for a comprehensive review of the situation and challenges in the education system. The support of Unicef, which prepared a comprehensive analysis of the education sector (period 2015-2020), is the first step taken in this direction. Now the emphasis is on research conducted by the Institute, the Center and the Examination Center to provide a basis for further development and improvement of the quality of the educational system.
The time behind us has also crystallized one a question that is often heard in the public, and that is, are the wrong people in the wrong places? It is important to know that education is a very conservative system with a clearly established hierarchy. It requires and implies teamwork. It is true that the manager puts a stamp on the work, but without co-workers and cooperation and sharing of responsibilities of everyone in the collective, successful work cannot be expected. The success of the school is not only the success of the director, but the success of the entire team. Likewise in the administration of the Ministry itself. We need professional and competent personnel who will create medium and long-term solutions based on classroom experiences.
Second, in our system, we have the Institute for Education and the Center for Vocational Education, which are responsible for externally determining the quality of school work. Among other things, one of the segments of the evaluation is the management and leadership of the institution. Without exact indicators and indications from these institutions that in a certain school the quality of teaching and the management process itself is not at the required level, the Ministry cannot take steps regarding the change of management.
Furthermore, we have the Educational Inspection, which should respond to observed irregularities in the application of regulations in schools.
As you can see, there is a whole series of mechanisms that are designed to determine the quality of the work of schools and those who manage them. The question is how much of this tool has been used in practice. I am of the opinion that the influence of political elites in the education system has been recognized and publicly denounced as very harmful and that this Ministry has taken a number of concrete steps in this regard. Could it have been more and better, it certainly was.
In this time of political and social instability without social and ideological consensus, these are still positive results. Specifically, I mean, at a time when the majority of individuals or groups on the social scene, along with criticism, highlight their price for possible involvement in future state administrations, not a single solution or proposal was offered to improve the poor state of education. Because of all this, I believe that the Ministry of Education preserved the continuity of changes and began to depoliticize the entire system.
In the previous period, only one high school principal was replaced. The director of the mixed secondary school in Andrijevica was dismissed, in accordance with the law. This is the best indicator that there have not been and will not be political changes as long as things are done in accordance with the law and in a legal manner.
In addition to the depoliticization of the system, harmonizing education with the needs of the labor market and providing a qualified workforce is one of the tasks that is put before education.
The education sector prepares the educational offer in cooperation with the real sector, this primarily refers to professional education. Work is being done on the training of practical teaching teachers and the equipping of schools, the number of practical teaching hours has been increased in the programs, but without active cooperation between the employer and the school, the real effect of what the Ministry is implementing cannot be expected.
Only in a real work environment can a student learn how theory is applied in practice and develop skills in their profession. In our system, we have dual education, it is intended for students of vocational schools who are educated according to programs lasting three years. The Ministry provides fees for the first and second class.
For the third grade, when students are on practice for three days, employers should provide compensation. At a time when there is talk of a labor shortage, dual education is an opportunity for employers to educate students for themselves, to prepare them so that when they finish high school, they can be involved in the performance of all jobs in the company without any major difficulties. We now have more than 200 private sector employers involved. Enrollment in secondary schools is coming up, and I call on employers to get involved in dual education, to prepare students for jobs in their company and thus provide themselves with a workforce for the time to come.
I would like to point out that for the education sector, timely information about the needs of the labor market is very important because it takes time to prepare an educational offer, and that the percentage of unemployed youth is the lowest in EU countries that have developed dual education (Austria, Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic).
I would like to emphasize the responsible attitude towards education of the Electric Industry of Montenegro and CEDIS, which, after signing the Agreement with the Ministry, have already started developing new qualifications in the field of sustainable energy sources with the Center for Vocational Education and opened their workshops and training centers for practical teaching for students who are educated in programs in the field of electrical engineering
A special challenge was to harmonize the enrollment policy with the needs of the labor market as much as possible.
As for the educational offer in vocational schools, it can be said that the educational offer is diverse, that students can choose programs of different levels of difficulty and from all areas of work. Since 2017, the Center for Vocational Education, in cooperation with teachers and other partners from the field of work and education, has created more than 70 modern, modularized educational programs based on learning outcomes. In gymnasiums, students can choose, in addition to general gymnasium, also mathematics and philology. On the other hand, students are insufficiently interested in the so-called Production programs in the fields of electrical engineering, construction, agriculture, etc., are more interested in administrative profiles.
In spite of the fact that both elementary school students and high school students - future students, have access to data on occupations in short supply on the labor market, on the number of persons on the records of the employment office who have completed a certain high school or study program, students opt for ze programs, which is their right. Aligning education with the needs of the labor market is not easy, and because education lasts a certain number of years, the state of the labor market can change during that period. For this reason, it is necessary for the programs to be broad-based, to provide students with good basic knowledge in their professional field, to develop key competencies in students, and this will help students to more easily adapt to the changing demands of the labor market. What was the challenge for them this year was the answer to the question why our students are not fully interested in majors in vocational schools? Why was there no broad social campaign? Why did society have too much work this year?
The period ahead will bring answers to some social questions, and the era of new state administrations will begin. However, we must not all forget the fact that the educational system of Montenegro is the first step on the way to its recovery. The events surrounding the state matriculation exams are a warning to us. For this reason and in the name of that, we must do the following in the coming period:
- Improvement of laws and by-laws and completion of strategic documents
- Evaluation of the educational program of the general high school and the program of the specialist departments in order to improve the teaching plans and the implementation of the teaching
- Improvement of the concept of optional subjects and their connection with graduation and enrollment in studies
- Promotion of studying and passing the natural group of subjects at the matriculation exam
- Reviewing the possibility of introducing new specialist departments
- Analysis of the effects of professional development of teachers on the quality of the teaching and learning process and its improvement
- Support for teachers in improving key competencies, including digital competencies and availability of professional development
- Improving the quality of professional education through the further development of external and internal evaluation mechanisms (to change the Rulebook on passing the matriculation exam already for September)
- Analysis of the effects of external and internal evaluation
- Conducting analyzes of student achievements and absences by classification periods
- Development of mechanisms for forecasting the need for qualifications
- Improving the capacity of sectoral qualifications in planning the needs for qualifications by sector and development of qualifications
- Support the Center for Vocational Education in the development of occupational and qualification standards and programs that meet the requirements of the labor market, the green economy and the digital age
- Support to the Institute for Education in improving the content of the general education subject programs for general and vocational education and the scope of study of general education subjects in vocational education programs
- Support to the Examination Center in the organization and realization of matriculation and professional examinations
- Improving the quality of practical education through strengthening the partnership between schools and employers
- Promotion of production profiles and dual education, increasing the number of students in dual education
- Development of mechanisms for monitoring students after completing secondary education through linking administrative databases and surveys
- Improving the work of career guidance teams and the quality of career guidance and counseling services
- Enhancing the enrollment policy through strengthening the cooperation of schools with the local community and employers, in accordance with sector strategies
- It supports the education of students with special educational needs and vulnerable groups
- Supporting lifelong learning through improving the educational offer of adult training programs for professional qualifications and key skills
- Support for adult education organizers and employers in the licensing process for the availability of programs to different target groups in all regions
- Recognition of non-formal and informal learning, primarily for deficient qualifications and promotion of lifelong learning, support for the organization of training for deficient qualifications, training of examiners in the process of obtaining a national professional qualification.
- Supporting schools to become regional centers of excellence for youth, adult and teacher training
- Supporting the mobility of students and teachers and the involvement of the Ministry and educational institutions in regional and EU-level initiatives
- Support for equipping schools, including IT equipment
Indicators to be achieved in the 2024/2025 school year:
- The percentage of students who choose the natural group of subjects at the matriculation exam is 10% (now about 3.3% average, for physics 1.2%
- Harmonized concept of elective subjects in high school with subjects of importance when enrolling in studies - necessary cooperation with the University of Montenegro and amendment of the Rulebook on enrollment in studies
- Uniform achievements of students in matriculation exams and during schooling
- The percentage of students who are educated in programs for deficit qualifications is at least 20% in relation to the total number of students in vocational education
- The share of students who completed their practical education with an employer (dual education) got a job within six months after completing their education is 75%
- 80% of secondary school teachers covered by training programs on modern teaching and learning methods, with improved digital competencies
- Participation of adults in lifelong learning programs 6%
There are many challenges facing the education system.
The author is the general director of the Directorate for General Secondary Education, Vocational Education and Lifelong Learning
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