Bad records of work permits in the Institute for Education

The Institute for Education did not show expenditures on cash flows in the prescribed manner, does not keep records of concluded work contracts, does not keep records and does not have up-to-date data on issued licenses, and they did not fully harmonize their work with sectoral strategic documents... This, among other things, is stated in the audit of the Annual Financial Report of the Institute for 2022, which the State Audit Institution (DRI) published yesterday.

Competent board of SAI, manager Branislav Radulović and a senator Zoran Jelic, expressed a conditional opinion on the financial audit and on the regularity audit.

"The financial audit of the Annual Financial Report of the Institute for Education for 2022 found that the Cash Flow Report III did not show expenditures in the manner defined by the Rulebook on the Uniform Classification of Accounts for the Budget of Montenegro and the Budget of Municipalities," says DRI.

The audit of the regularity of operations, as it is added, revealed non-compliance with the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, the Labor Law and the Rulebook on the conditions, method and procedure for issuing and renewing work permits for teachers, directors and assistant directors of educational institutions.

"The Institute for Education has not fully harmonized its work with sectoral strategic documents, i.e. programs for their implementation and has not provided reporting that enables monitoring of the degree of realization of activities, i.e. goals", it is added.

DRi indicates that the document contains the results of the PISA 2015 study and recommendations for educational policies from 2019, which can be considered a key implementation strategic document for the development of the quality of primary education for the period 2019-2021. made recommendations that, among others, also refer to the Institute for Education, and that in the work programs of the Institute for the period 2020-2022. it does not specify which planned activities of the Institute are related to the implementation of the given recommendations.

"Out of the eight recommendations... which were the subject of the audit, the Institute for Education undertook activities that can be linked to the implementation of five. For three, it was not established that the Institute undertook activities aimed at realizing them", the report says, with the recommendation that the Institute for Education harmonize its work program with the existing strategic documents.

The SAI also states that the Institute does not keep records of issued licenses, that for those that were given for inspection, it was determined that for 1.793 persons, more than five years have passed since the date of issue, and there is no information on the renewal of the license.

A license, that is, a work permit, is a public document that proves the necessary level of general and professional competence of teachers, principals and assistant principals for a period of five years.

The SAI will submit the Report on the Audit of the Annual Financial Report of the Institute for Education for 2022 to the Ministry of Education and the Parliamentary Committee for Education, Science, Culture and Sports.

The Institute for Education, as the subject of the audit, is obliged to submit to the state audit by September 18 the Action Plan for the implementation of the recommendations, as well as the Report on the actions taken based on the prepared and submitted recommendations by January 18, 2024.

She is the acting head of the Institute Irena Pavlović, who was appointed at the Government session on February 15. Then a decision was made on the termination of the duties of the previous acting director Zoje Bojanić Lalović.

The SAI determined that the records of issued licenses contain data for 12.659 persons, and that for 1.793 more than five years have passed since the date of issuance, and there is no information on license renewal