Deputies of the ruling coalition in the Parliament of Montenegro proposed that from the next school year every student has the right to free textbooks for primary school.
"Detailed conditions, rules and procedure of procurement and allocation, as well as the way of using the rights from paragraph 1 of this article are determined by the state administration body responsible for education affairs [hereinafter: the Ministry] with the consent of the Government," it is stated in the Draft Law on Amendments of the Law on Basic Education.
The proposal is signed by the vice-president of the Assembly Branka Bošnjak, the presidents of the parliamentary clubs of the Democratic Front Slaven Radunović, the Socialist People's Party Dragan Ivanović, the coalition Black on White Miloš Konatar and the deputy of Democratic Montenegro Tamara Vujović.
In the part concerning the reasons for adopting this proposal, it is stated that the Constitution of Montenegro guarantees the right to education under equal conditions.
"Article 75 paragraph 2 of the Constitution stipulates that primary education is compulsory and free. Prescribing that primary education is compulsory and free confirms that it was established not only in the private but also in the public interest," the explanation states, among other things.
The Constitution did not determine the elements of the content of free primary education. Consequently, the legislator is left with the possibility to regulate the content of this principle, in accordance with the Constitution.
For the implementation of this law, it is necessary to provide funds in the budget.
Bearing in mind that in the current school year there are 68.506 elementary school students in Montenegro, the proponents estimate that the implementation of this law will lead to expenditures of the state budget in the amount of about four million euros.
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