The Center for Civic Education (CGO), on the eve of the World Teacher's Day, which is celebrated on October 5, points to a worrying situation in the education system, which is a consequence of the decades-long marginalization of this sector, as well as the inconsistency and bad decisions of the authorities in the last two governments, she said. is Snežana Kaluđerović from that organization.
"We expect the next Government to put education in focus and to pull it out of the party's combinatorics that brought it to an extremely low level, which can seriously affect the overall progress of Montenegrin society," the statement of the CGE states.
The influence of party and individual politics in the education system has reached its maximum, she added, as well as the consequent degradation of the teaching profession, so today we are witnessing the loss of even the average quality of education, and therefore it is not surprising, but should be worried, that a small percentage of the best students who they see themselves in the future in the teaching profession.
"CGO appreciates that Montenegro needs a teaching staff with knowledge and integrity, in order to create a basis for the healing of the education system and its removal from predators from political parties. Until the best candidate for a teacher is employed, the tolerance of ignorance, arrogance, unethicality, but also the intolerance of parents, which has escalated in recent years. Today, teachers are on the brink of existence and loss of dignity, and the absence of an essential reform causes immeasurable damage. These are some of the reasons why the beginning of the 2023/2024 school year was marked by a teachers' warning strike." , Kaluđerović stated.
The number of immigrant students has increased, she said, primarily from areas where there are armed conflicts, but also from other countries.
"In Montenegro, there are over 6 foreigners in the education system, mostly living on the coast and in Podgorica. This requires a minimum of six new buildings for schools and kindergartens, but an increase in the necessary teaching staff, in addition to the existing need to remedy the shortage of staff in mathematics and physics and chemistry, and in order not to reach a blockade and the impossibility of maintaining basic quality classes. The CGE emphasizes the necessity of an urgent and strategic commitment and investment by the Government of Montenegro in the budget for education, which must no longer be a budget of the social category," it was announced.
According to her, the CGO indicates that teachers work in increasingly difficult conditions, in overcrowded classrooms, where it is not possible to maintain attention and concentration, and in recent years they often experience various forms of violence from students, parents or administration.
"On the other hand, there are also examples of teaching staff coming to work in an inappropriate state, under the influence of alcohol and opiates, which are not followed by sanctions due to the party eligibility of those who prove themselves unworthy of the teaching profession," the announcement states.
Teachers' councils, active and other bodies where teachers participate, Kaluđerović stated, do not have the ability to make binding decisions on many important issues.
"This also results in questionable structuring of school boards in which instead of representatives of competent institutions, those who represent party or particular interests sit, which does not contribute to the necessary and promised depoliticization of educational institutions," it was announced.
We are witnessing, she added, illegal employment, setting norms, etc. so that the best candidate has no chance of getting a job, as well as ignoring the dissatisfaction of teachers who do their job professionally and with dedication.
"Dissatisfied or under-capacitated teachers cannot return education to the level where children learn to learn, or go a step further to teach them to think critically and contribute to the community, that is, to change the climate in which learning is only for grades. Practical learning in the laboratory and experimental knowledge at the basic level, they do not exist to the extent that we can be competitive with the countries with the best results on the PISA test. It is impossible with extensive and demanding curricula, a large number of subjects, and with the administrative duties that the teacher has in class, to make extraordinary achievements," the announcement states. .
She said that the educational system must be changed in order to acquire practice, skills and competences.
"CGO appreciates that precisely then the pressures and influences on the teaching staff would be significantly reduced, which would strengthen the education system, motivating teachers to continue their own education and upgrading", added Kaluđerović.
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