Šehović: Dual education solves one of the most important structural problems in our economy

Dual education provides conditions for the acquisition, improvement and development of students' competencies in accordance with the needs of the labor market, and enables employers to train a qualified workforce according to their own needs.

This was announced today at the presentation of dual education in Montenegro, organized by AmCham Montenegro in cooperation with the Ministry of Education.

The Minister of Education, Damir Šehović, said that after a decade, since last year, the department has again started dual education, where, as he reminded, the school is in charge of the theoretical part of the teaching, and the employer is responsible for the practical part.

"Because a first-year student spends one working day with the employer out of five working days, a second-year student spends two days, and a third-year student spends three days with the employer. "Dual education is not only a priority of the Ministry of Education, but of the state as a whole, because it solves one of the most important structural problems in our economy, which is dominantly related to the labor market," said Šehović.

He believes that the benefits of dual education are multiple.

Šehović said that students acquire theoretical as well as practical knowledge during their education and, as he assessed, what is very important, they develop an entrepreneurial spirit, which is lacking.

"During the three-year schooling, they receive a decent financial compensation - students in the first year 50, students in the second year 70, and students in the third year at least 101 euros. After the end of the third year, the students will almost certainly establish a working relationship with the employer, because he has trained them according to his needs ", pointed out Šehović.

He said that employers, by participating in the dual education program, educate a qualified workforce according to their own needs, and benefit from students who contribute to their successful business through internships.

"After all the activities that the Ministry of Employment did to promote dual education last year, we managed to motivate about 100 of the most renowned employers to participate in this type of education, we managed to include about 300 students from 17 schools in 12 municipalities in the dual education system, and introduce 14 educational programs, mostly of deficit character", said Šehović.

The president of AmCham, Katarina Bulatović, shared that the association initiated an internship program for students of Montenegrin universities, which, as she reminded, will welcome its 8th generation this year.

"However, now we are going one step further. "Thanks to the initiative of the member companies gathered in our Labor Relations Committee, who recognized the importance of introducing dual education into our education system, we formed a working group that deals with the development of the dual education model for higher education," said Bulatović.

She believes that dual education is important, because it provides conditions for the acquisition, improvement and development of competencies in accordance with the needs of the labor market and contributes to a better connection between the economy and the education system.

"Thanks to this model of education, young people get to know the "corporate culture" and become an integral part of the business community, acquiring knowledge and skills that make them employable on the market. Our experiences from the AmCham Internship Program, which we have been implementing for the past seven years, through high-quality cooperation with universities and companies that are members of the Chamber, confirm this," Bulatović pointed out.

She pointed out that so far about 150 students have successfully completed the internship program, and that many of them have continued their careers in mentoring companies.

She called on AmCham member companies to get involved to the greatest extent in creating professional staff and a more efficient labor market, which, as she stated, will ultimately contribute to a more transparent and stimulating business environment, as well as overall economic stability.

The Director General of the Directorate for Higher Education in the Ministry of Education, Mubera Kurpejović, pointed to the results of a study conducted by that department, in which students participated in 2009 and 2013, which showed, as she stated, that students who later graduates had more practical classes.

"The study showed that 85 percent of students are satisfied with their studies, but that graduate students are dissatisfied with the representation of practical classes. The conclusion of the study is that a higher degree of practical teaching is necessary," stated Kurpejović.

She reminded that the Ministry prescribed a minimum of 25 percent of practical teaching as part of the curriculum, explaining that every new program that is accredited must confirm that practical teaching is evaluated for credit.

"What is important and what Article 81 refers to is that all study programs must have practical teaching. That is, in order for someone to obtain a first bachelor's degree, he must pass certain practical classes. After three years of applying this model, we will no longer need the Professional Training Program because then we will have graduated students who have certain practical knowledge for which the program was implemented," explained Kurpejović.

The Chairperson of the Working Group and the Executive Director for Operations at the Societe Generale Montenegro branch, Marina Banović, said that one of the activities of the working group was sending questionnaires to AmCham members.

"The results of the questionnaire showed that companies would be able to accept from one to five people for an internship, and generally the duration of that internship would be between three and six months. The greatest interest exists in the economic, IT and legal professions. 60 percent of companies are ready to provide financial compensation for this type of engagement," said Banović.

She said that through dual education, students get practical knowledge before they finish school or studies, and their employability increases.

"As far as companies are concerned, companies have a clear interest in supporting this kind of initiative, through this system they would have excellent access to very good personnel even before they finish their education," Banović pointed out.