Montenegro urgently needs to provide money for financing new school and preschool facilities, as well as for adequately equipping all schools with new technologies, the UNICEF office in Podgorica said.
Today, January 24 - International Education Day is being celebrated around the world.
On this occasion, UNICEF issued a global call for urgent investment in the education of every child and warned public and private sector leaders that companies and the public sector will soon face a shortage of educated workforce if they do not address the education crisis.
From that international organization, they recalled the key findings of the recently presented Analysis of the Education Sector 2015‒2020, which showed that two out of three children in Montenegro are in primary schools with insufficient infrastructure and that there are an average of 16 students per computer in primary and secondary schools. schools.
The analysis showed that every fourth teacher attends programs for professional development and that children who grow up in poverty go to kindergarten, primary and secondary school in much smaller numbers than their peers.
The head of the UNICEF representative office in Podgorica, Juan Santander, said that International Education Day is a call to action.
"Montenegro urgently needs to provide money for financing new school and preschool facilities, as well as for adequately equipping all schools with new technologies," Santander said.
According to him, greater investment in continuous professional development of all teachers is necessary if Montenegro wants to achieve a better quality of education.
"Finally, to reduce poverty in Montenegro, quality education must be provided to all children from poor families, Roma and children with developmental disabilities, from the first years of life," Santander pointed out.
In addition to UNICEF, the Ministry of Education and the non-governmental organizations Education Community and the Parents Association called for investments in education to be prioritized.
The Ministry of Education emphasized that Montenegro has put education first.
They said that in the coming period they are expected to prepare a key document - a comprehensive strategy for education reform.
"Which will show that we are ready for bold actions in order to have a safe and healthy learning environment, better learning outcomes, empowered teachers and their improved economic and social status, use the digital revolution for the benefit of public education and invest in education more equitably and efficiently", they stated from the Ministry.
Minister of Education Miomir Vojinović indicated that, through a partnership with the European Investment Bank, the Central Bank of the Council of Europe, KFW Bank and the American Embassy in Montenegro, the Ministry has already provided money to finance the construction of nine new kindergartens and four elementary schools.
As he stated, money was also provided for improving the energy efficiency of dozens of high school, elementary school and preschool facilities.
"An additional 11 million euros for this purpose was provided by the Ministry from the Western Balkans Investment Framework and multilateral donors," said Vojinović and said that the department he manages will continue to work on the urgent provision of funds for the reform of the education sector in the future as well.
The Educational Union reminded that all the problems of society stem from lack of enlightenment and that providing quality education to every child is the task of the whole society.
The member of the Board of Directors of the Educational Community, Danijela Delibašić, said that the International Day of Education is a reminder to Montenegro that it must urgently invest in school facilities, as well as in teaching staff so that they are professional and motivated to meet the challenges of education in the 21st century.
"It is a day of invitation to Montenegro to create better working conditions and to continuously significantly improve the position of educators in society, as well as to encourage the regular participation of practitioners in the creation of educational policy," stated Delibašić.
As she added, the International Day of Education is an opportunity to remind that the progress of society as a whole depends on the inclusiveness, support and quality of education available to every child in Montenegro.
"And that can only be achieved through the continuous planned investment of the state in education," Delibašić said.
The Association of Parents called on the Government to increase allocations for the education system.
According to them, apart from infrastructure, which is a burning problem, special attention should be focused on providing stable finances for the basic needs of students and educational institutions - heating and transportation.
The executive director of the Parents' Association, Kristina Mihailović, said that, in addition to not having enough space in schools, children often stay in cold or semi-cold rooms, do not have transport to school, while their teachers lack basic materials for work.
"We also remind you about security, which is a daily topic in the public and the media due to specific situations of peer violence and vandalism, although the programs of the Ministry of Education also envisage raising the level of security to a higher level. However, the money is still not allocated for these purposes," Mihailović said. .
She also reminded of the, now too long, wait for concrete education reform in terms of adapting programs and plans to current life circumstances in the 21st century and the needs of students.
The young reporter of UNICEF Montenegro, Sofija Ivanović, called on the authorities to provide children with developmental disabilities with the necessary learning resources and to organize additional education for the existing staff so that they can provide quality, inclusive education for every child in Montenegro.
Ivanovic said that, as a visually impaired person, she faces three key challenges in education, the first of which she mentioned is the lack of educated teaching staff who can provide quality, inclusive teaching.
She said that there is a lack of assistive and didactic aids, such as computers with speech support and Braille notebooks, which would help people without residual vision to master the material more easily.
Ivanovic also pointed to the lack of a sufficient number of special education teachers of all profiles, including typhlopedagogues and other persons who would teach the visually impaired the various skills needed for an independent, equal and dignified life.
"All these challenges can be overcome through adequate education of the existing staff, as well as by investing in adequate infrastructure for working with people with disabilities," Ivanovic pointed out.
The United Nations General Assembly declared January 24 as International Education Day to celebrate its contribution to peace and development.
Under the theme "In order to invest in people, let's prioritize education", this year's International Education Day calls for intensive political mobilization around education, as well as for the transition from promises and global initiatives to actions through which positive life changes will occur for all children.
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