Free textbooks for primary school, increasing work experience for the selection of school principals, changing the method of financing talented students, are some of the proposals contained in the amendments to the law, which were proposed by the members of the ruling coalition and which will be discussed at the extraordinary session of the Assembly, which is scheduled for 18 February.
The proposed changes were made in coordination with the government departments, but they will make an official statement about it before the parliamentary session.
The list of proposals also includes an increase in the minimum wage and old-age benefits, the introduction of child allowances...
The proposed amendments to the Law on Elementary Education provide that every student has the right to free textbooks for elementary school, starting from the next school year, which begins in September.
"By stipulating that the right to free textbooks for elementary school, at the expense of the state budget, belongs to every student, prerequisites are created for equal access to elementary education for everyone and factual equality is ensured," the explanation states.
The proponents estimate that for the implementation of this law, it is necessary to allocate around four million euros from the budget, considering that in this school year there are 68.506 elementary school students in Montenegro.
The proposed amendments to the General Law on Education prescribe a different structure of administrative and school boards by increasing the number of employee representatives and decreasing the number of Ministry representatives.
The conditions for the selection of directors of educational institutions are also being changed by stipulating that, instead of the previous five years of work experience in teaching, they can apply for that position if they have seven years of work experience.
"The draft law changes the conditions for the selection of directors of educational institutions in such a way that it is prescribed that, instead of the previous five years of work experience in teaching, a person who, in addition to other conditions, must have seven years of work experience in teaching can be elected as the director, which will contribute to the improvement of the work of institutions and significantly influence the selection of quality personnel solutions. This is especially due to the fact that the director of the institution, in cooperation with other competent services, ensures and improves the educational work of the institution (self-evaluation) every year in certain areas, and every two years as a whole," the explanation of the proposal states.
The draft law also creates a Fund for the support of talented primary and secondary school students, instead of the current Fund for Quality and Talents.
The previous Fund, as stated, was organized contrary to the strategic document of the year on the development and support of gifted students, which was adopted in 2016.
"The proposed way of supporting talented students in the best way would achieve the principle of individualized teaching and the application of differentiated teaching, which will enable talented students to make better progress in heterogeneous classes and in the company of their peers," the proposal states, among other things.
The opposition has not attended parliamentary sessions since the end of last year, and DPS announced yesterday that they will announce when they will return to parliament in the next few days.
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