The Education Inspectorate will inspect the Educational Center "The British Academy" to determine whether the private institution still meets the criteria based on which it was issued a license to operate last year.
They are doing this, they replied to "Vijesti", following a request for control relating to "doubts in fulfilling the conditions of the issued license".
"If it is determined that the institution has violated regulations, the inspection will take appropriate measures and actions within its jurisdiction. Finally, it is important to emphasize that the goal of inspection supervision is to ensure the quality of education and protect the interests of students," they said.
According to the editorial team, the Education Inspectorate received at least two requests for inspection of this private institution between the end of May and the end of last week, and a temporary ban on the school's operations was also requested.
The first relates to, among other things, almost a hundred more enrolled students than stipulated in the work permit, but also to inadequate teaching conditions due to a larger number of students compared to the documents submitted in the process of obtaining the work permit, which was issued by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI) in August last year.
According to the request, the school is licensed for 30 students at three levels of education, and at the end of May, the institution was attended by "around 150 students", which is why neither the spatial nor the staffing capacities were allegedly met.
The second request for inspection allegedly relates to the amount of tuition fees - the work permit stipulated one price for the 2024/2025 school year, and the fee was charged at least seven times higher, depending on the level of education.
124 students are currently attending classes at a private educational institution in Podgorica, and the administration says that number varies.
The British Academy Educational Center rejects the allegations in the inspection request and claims that they have all the documentation, as well as a good relationship with the parents. They emphasize that they have submitted a request to supplement the license. They emphasize that only some parents are not satisfied, and that they are aware of the motives for such an attitude towards the institution, which is why they have sought help from the relevant educational institutions, and have also hired a legal team.
More students, less space
In the request for inspection from May, which "Vijesti" has access to, it is emphasized that the Ministry's permit was issued for 10 students each in preschool, primary and secondary education, and "the school is attended by approximately 150 students."
Article 54 of the General Law on Education was also cited, which stipulates that, if the inspection determines that an institution does not meet the requirements or does not perform its activities in accordance with regulations, it is temporarily prohibited from operating and a deadline is set for it to eliminate the deficiencies.
"Given the fact that the institution does not meet the requirements in accordance with the law and license, given that the number of students attending classes is five times higher than the permitted number, the conditions have been met to temporarily ban its operation," the request to the Education Inspectorate states.
The applicants, whose identities are known to the editorial team, also emphasize that the spatial capacities, considering the number of enrolled students, no longer meet the requirements of the Regulation on Detailed Conditions for Establishing Institutions in the Field of Education and Upbringing.
It is also stated that according to the Regulation, the main classroom for teaching must not be smaller than 60 square meters, while the number of classrooms depends on the number of classes and the organization of the elementary school. Specialized classrooms, the Regulation is quoted in the application, should have an area of at least 60 square meters for music education, or 80 square meters for natural sciences and art.
"In the facility for which the license was obtained, the space does not meet the requirements in terms of the area of main classrooms, subject classrooms, offices, library..., all in relation to the total number of students, as well as in relation to the number of students per class," the application states, with an annex to the study from May last year that "The British Academy" submitted with the license application.
"The 'Science' subject is taught in a room full of humidity, and the 'Digital Literacy' subject in a room without windows and natural light... Seventh and eighth grade students attend classes in containers located behind the school on plot number 3734/1, and the school has not received a license for that space, nor has it reported them to the Ministry as meeting the requirements in accordance with the cited provisions of the Rulebook, and therefore does not have a license for those spatial capacities. The containers, in which seventh and eighth grade students attend classes, cannot meet the minimum requirements because they are about 28 square meters in area. For example, the eighth grade is attended by 26 students and, together with the teacher, they occupy one square meter per person. In addition, unlicensed spaces do not meet other standards from the Rulebook, nor can they meet them," the request submitted to the Education Inspectorate states.
The applicants also state that the Regulation stipulates that a school with up to 18 classes must have a physical education hall of certain dimensions, with separate areas for exercises, teaching aids, a teacher's office, changing rooms, and a sanitary block. They submitted to the Inspectorate a preliminary contract with the Resource Center "1. jun" on the lease of the gym, which the institution submitted in the licensing procedure. They also submitted a letter from that center according to which that state institution does not have a contract with the private "The British Academy", but they also claim that "the school hall was not used by the said institution during the 2024/2025 school year, nor are there records of scheduled or realized periods".
Higher tuition fees, same guarantee
"For the purposes of obtaining a license, the founder of the private institution submitted to the Ministry a decision on enrollment for the 2024/2025 school year, which set the tuition fee at 1.000 euros for the nine-year primary school education program, and 1.100 euros for the four-year high school education program. The tuition fees charged by the school for primary and secondary education range from 4.680 to 9.960 euros. If the founder changed the prices immediately after obtaining the Ministry's license, then his obvious intention was to mislead the Ministry in order to provide less funds for the bank guarantee, prescribed by the General Law on Education...", the applicants suspect.
They emphasize that this private institution provided a bank guarantee in the amount of 139.000 euros for licensing purposes.
"This bank guarantee was given and calculated in relation to 10 preschool, 10 primary and 10 secondary school students, as well as the cost of tuition in the amount of 1.000 or 1.100 euros per student. Considering that the institution is attended by approximately 150 students, they were obliged to provide a guarantee more than 10 times greater than the one it provided...", the report states.
According to the General Law on Education, the paid guarantee is activated in the event that the founder makes a decision to close down or terminate the institution before the completion of the student's education according to the educational program.
The applicants claim that this private institution is also overstaffed.
"Almost none of the teachers registered in the licensing process teach at the school. The institution does not have a teacher for the subject 'Global Perspectives', but rather a physical education teacher teaches that subject," states the request for control of the private institution "The British Academy".
“30 students per enrollment period”
The Director of the Educational Center "The British Academy" Nemanja Kalezić told "Vijesti" that currently 124 students are attending three levels of education at that institution.
He claims that this number constantly fluctuates because it is an international private school.
"We have a lot of foreign students, from almost 15 countries around the world. The number varies because the children return to their own countries. There are a lot of students who are children of ambassadors or temporary officials in Montenegro. There is no constant number, so we can say that enrollment is in September and that the same number of students remains until the end of the year," explained Kalezić.
He confirms that the institution is licensed to accommodate 30 students in three levels of education. He claims, however, that this is a figure “per enrollment period”.
"And we have three enrollment deadlines," said Kalezić.
According to him, this is the school's first year of operation, and the administration couldn't even guess how many students would be enrolled.
"What did we do? As soon as we reached our maximum, we approached the Ministry of Education and Science for a license extension, in November last year. It is in the process, it is an ongoing process. So, we started the first year of work, saw how much interest there was in our school and requested a license extension," he specified.
When asked by a journalist whether they understood the license at that institution to mean that the licensed number of students could be enrolled each time during three enrollment periods during the year - at three levels of 10 each, Kalezić replied that this was the case.
He did not specifically answer the question of whether the Ministry of Education and Science was informed about the admission of more children than the number licensed.
"The number of students is not a problem in terms of staff and space. The only limitation here is the bank guarantee, which is also considered a business barrier, and there is a possibility that it will be abolished very soon," he said.
When asked why they didn't request a license for a larger number of students from the beginning, Kalezić emphasized that they couldn't have known how much interest there would be.
Responding to the question of whether, by enrolling a larger number of children, they are violating regulations regarding spatial capacities, Kalezić points out that the school operates in a space where a private institution with around 120 students previously operated.
"Our institution covers 12.000 square meters of space. It started with one building, when we had much fewer students. These are the buildings we operate in now, all solid construction, and in addition, we have leased two large plots of land. Not a single student is cramped at any time. On the contrary," Kalezić is categorical. He also provided the editorial team with lease agreements for additional buildings and land.
When asked where physical education classes are held given the large number of enrolled students, he says that "most of the classes take place outside."
"If weather conditions do not allow it, we have a smaller hall at the school, where physical education classes are held. If that is not enough, depending on the plan and program, we have a contract with the University Sports and Cultural Center (SKUCG), where physical education classes are held. Children have physical education five times a week, and they also study healthy lifestyles. We also have a plan to equip that part very soon, so that we would not have to rent a gym, but have our own. We have been constantly working, since the beginning of the school year, to improve the work process and conditions," he emphasized, submitting for review the business cooperation agreement with SKUCG from April last year, which provides for the use of the hall and equipment of that state university enterprise.
The report of the MPNI commission, which "Vijesti" has access to, however, states that the institution submitted a preliminary contract on the lease of the sports hall with the Resource Center "1. jun". The preliminary contract, the commission's report specifies, was concluded in June last year, while the state institution informed some parents in a letter that the private school had never used their hall.
Modular classrooms, staff for the Cambridge program
When asked whether classes are also held in prefabricated buildings, Kalezić answers that these are so-called modular classrooms, where music education classes are held.
"We work according to the Cambridge program and we have received permission from Cambridge to use modular facilities. Most Cambridge institutions in the world use modular classrooms. This is a temporary solution, although they meet all the requirements for classrooms. The students have already left those classrooms," claims Kalezić, and he also provided the editorial team with Cambridge's approval for teaching in modular classrooms.
When asked if they informed the Ministry of National Infrastructure and Transport about this, they replied that they submitted everything in the application for license extension submitted at the end of last year.
"It's an ongoing process, but we expect that new approval every day," Kalezić points out.
Asked about the staff, Kalezić says that last year, during the licensing process, they submitted to the Ministry a list of teachers that were planned at the time.
"However, the Cambridge program must be delivered by teachers who are trained and licensed for it. For the sake of clarification, we have the option of a publicly valid program and the Cambridge program. We nevertheless decided on the Cambridge program, so those who are certified for that work are employed. As for the teachers' diplomas, all teachers have their diplomas validated," Kalezić specified, emphasizing that the institution "did not register teachers, like some other private schools, as part of the support staff, and they teach."
They are seeking help from authorities.
Kalezić emphasizes that the Education Inspectorate was at the school in April, but they did not register any irregularities.
"The inspector looked at all our documentation - the license, the request for its extension, visited the school, and found no irregularities," he points out.
The inspection was then at the school based on another report, which did not relate to fulfilling the conditions for obtaining a work permit.
Kalezić emphasizes that the institution has turned to the Education Bureau for assistance.
"We have a problem, our administration is overwhelmed. The inspection in April found no irregularities, and they looked at everything - from the Statute, through the license... The Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information found no irregularities, and the background is the same person for whom we do not know what he wants. It is the first year, we have achieved tremendous success and we hope that this is not the first time we have asked for a license extension, because the parents are very satisfied. We understand that we are being watched and that many students from competing international schools have been enrolled with us. We are open to all questions. We are actually asking for help from institutions, and we have also hired a legal team, because we believe that we have been maximally tolerant with some parents, who even shouted at employees," said Kalezić, adding that this institution "does not avoid the laws and does not sweep anything under the carpet."
They planned one price, they charge another.
Asked whether parents were charged the tuition prices that were reported to the Ministry of Education, Kalezić replied that they were established based on costs, but also the program and staff that were planned in March last year, when the application for a work permit was submitted.
In the Decision on Enrollment for the 2024/2025 school year, the tuition fee for primary school is 1.000 euros and for secondary school is 1.100 euros. However, the first generation of primary school students was charged more than 4.700 euros, and that is the price with a 30 percent discount. The annual tuition fee for high school students with a discount was 6.972 euros.
"The estimated prices at that time are quite different from the current ones, because at that time we planned to have personnel from Montenegro," said Kalazić.
He emphasized that the institution "has never promised other prices to anyone."
"Everyone who came was informed about the price and signed a contract. No one has ever had a problem with it. If someone is interested in enrolling in our school, they first come to talk to the director, who presents the program we run, the school's capacities, the number of students, and the tuition fees. Every parent is familiar with the tuition fees, and they received the same prices through the administration - based on that, they signed the contract," Kalezić said.
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