Almost 180 educational institutions in Montenegro, in the last three months of last year, requested approval to introduce video surveillance.
This was told to "Vijesti" by the Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information (AZLP).
"We would like to inform you that in the third quarter of last year, 176 educational institutions contacted the Agency with a request for approval to introduce video surveillance," the response from the AZLP, which is led by Čedomir Mitrović.
The requests to the Agency followed after the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI) launched a procedure in July last year to create conditions for the installation of video surveillance in all primary and secondary schools in Montenegro.
Minister Anđela Jakšić Stojanović Last summer, at the Committee on Education, Science and Culture of the Parliament of Montenegro, she said that the measure of introducing video surveillance is very important, and that it can be one of the ways to combat peer violence and vandalism: "..to ensure the appropriate level of security that we expect when we send a child to school."
The Agency told "Vijesti" yesterday that they are currently processing cases based on submitted requests.
"Within which additional documentation has been submitted by a certain number of institutions. In the coming period, the submitted documentation will be considered at Council sessions and decisions will be made on individual approvals for the introduction of video surveillance," said the AZLP.
They also explained that a certain number of educational institutions already have approval to establish video surveillance.
After the Ministry of Education launched a procedure last summer to create conditions for the installation of video surveillance in all schools, both primary and secondary, a regulation on the protection of personal data was drafted and forwarded to all primary and secondary schools.
In mid-December 2024, the AZLP established a position on video surveillance in educational institutions, according to which video surveillance is not allowed in locker rooms, elevators, offices, sanitary facilities, classrooms and offices where classes are held...
In this regard, AZLP also refers to the final judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which ruled in favor of the professor in the case of installing cameras in the amphitheaters of the Faculty of Science. Jovan Mirković i Nevenka Antović.
According to the Agency, video surveillance in educational institutions may include the entrance and exit of the educational institution, the associated courtyard, halls, corridors, kitchens, and the space (cupboard) where school diaries are kept (with the perimeter focused only on diaries).
The position of the AZLP also states that, based on prior consent, video surveillance may be introduced under a special operating regime outside the period of regular classes and school activities in specialized offices, libraries, gyms, laboratories and IT rooms that contain computer equipment and so-called smart boards and other equipment of great value necessary for the conduct of professional and practical work.
The Ministry of Education previously submitted a regulation on the protection of personal data to schools, according to which the school principal, or the person authorized to manage the data collection, is responsible in the event of misuse of recordings from cameras installed in educational institutions. Any misuse may result in the removal of the principal.
The document also strictly prohibits the use of cameras with the ability to record sound in all areas under video surveillance.
Data protection expert Radenko Lacmanović He previously said that video surveillance in schools may be easier, but that does not mean a better approach to solving the problem.
"This measure must be the exception, not the rule, and be taken only in those schools for which it is shown to be necessary and proportionate to the intended goal... I am aware that the majority of citizens support such a measure, but when it comes to human rights, it cannot and must not be of crucial importance," he said.
According to the portal skolskastatistika.edu.me, in the 2024/25 school year, there are 208 primary and secondary schools, 14 music schools and three resource centers in Montenegro...
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