At the end of the last school year, excellent results were recorded in the test reports of almost half of students in Montenegrin primary schools, as well as a quarter of the total number of high school students.
This is shown by data from the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI) from the Montenegrin Educational Information System (MEIS) for the 2024/2025 school year.
Another piece of information is indicative - in primary schools, a higher percentage of students who had units at the end of that year was recorded - 0,66 percent. In secondary schools, 0,4 percent of students had insufficient success.
"The education system in Montenegro shows a high level of success among primary and secondary school students. In primary schools, 99,34 percent of students completed the grade, while 0,66 percent failed to do so. In state primary schools, the distribution of grades for students from third to ninth grade is as follows - 46,29 percent of students achieved excellent success, 28,09 very good, 20,49 good, 4,38 were sufficient, while 0,75 had insufficient success," the Ministry of Education responded to "Vijesti".
They point out that the situation is more favorable in secondary schools - with 99,55 percent of students completing the grade.
"In public secondary schools, the distribution of success at the end of the school year is as follows: 24,62 percent of students achieved excellent results, 32,15 were very good, 34,44 good, 8,39 sufficient, while 0,4 percent had insufficient grades," they specified.
Senior legal advisor at the Center for Civic Education (CGO) Snezana Kaluđerović She assessed that the Ministry's data on almost half of elementary school students, and almost a quarter of high school students, who finished the school year with honors - were only seemingly encouraging.
At the end of last year, there were 69.808 students in primary schools, of which the most were in Podgorica - 21.918, and the least in Šavnik - 74. There were 26.715 students in secondary schools last school year.
The illusion of success
The data may seem encouraging, but the situation in reality, Kaluđerović emphasizes, is worrying, because "at the same time, we are continuously recording poor results from our students in international tests such as PISA, which clearly indicates that school grades in our education system have long ceased to be a reliable indicator of knowledge."
"Today, school grades in Montenegro most often measure obedience, peace in class, and reproductive memory, rather than real understanding and the ability to think critically," she said.
According to her, in addition, there is systemic permissiveness - parental pressure, expectations from schools not to "spoil the statistics", as well as the increasingly prominent practice of private lessons that buy "passing".
"In addition, available tools and services are not used sufficiently in teaching. The result is inflation of A's and deflation of knowledge, which is often accompanied by unfounded self-confidence among students," Kaluđerović points out.
He explains that almost half of our "excellent" students barely reach the basic level of functional literacy, while only 1 percent of students demonstrate excellence, compared to an average of 9 percent in OECD countries.
"We have consistently poor results in PISA testing, and even new generations show one of the weakest knowledge in Europe in this context. In the last PISA test, Montenegro achieved 406 points in mathematics, 405 in reading and 403 in science, below the average of OECD countries. This means that our system does not recognize and nurture talented and motivated students, but rather produces the illusion of success. A good example of this is the case from 2023, when parents and non-governmental organizations appealed to the Government to finance the departure of students from the 'Slobodan Škerović' Gymnasium to the Knowledge Olympiad in Tokyo, even though the state has a Talent Fund that should serve precisely that purpose. So, the inflation of excellent students does not speak about the quality of education, but about its diagnosis of failure," said Kaluđerović.
She also recalled the results of the high school graduation exam in Montenegrin-Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian Language and Literature (CSBH), where out of 4.832 students this year, 205 received an excellent grade, while in 2024, a similar number received drastically fewer A's in the mandatory subject.
"Although we are making small steps forward, excellent grades are not a reflection of real knowledge, but a mechanism for maintaining the illusion of success," warns Kaluđerović.
Witnessed pressures to improve grades
Readers who filled out the questionnaire on the "Vijesti" portal in recent days have a similar opinion.
Out of 240 readers who filled out the questionnaire, as many as 222 believe that there is inflation of excellent grades in Montenegro.
The main “culprits” for this situation are the lowering of criteria, pressure from parents, improving grades at the end of the year, pressure from school administrations on teachers, and the lack of external control of knowledge. As many as 93 citizens claim that they have often witnessed pressure to improve grades, and 97 that they have sometimes seen this practice. Only 26 readers of “Vijesti” did not witness this.
212 readers believe that the inflation of A's often makes it difficult to distinguish between the most successful and less successful honors students, and only 13 say that it is rare, while the rest say that it is very rare.
"Rotary learning" and insufficiently developed reading, mathematical and scientific competencies through regular classes are, according to citizens, the reasons why Montenegrin fifteen-year-olds do not achieve better results in external tests, such as the PISA test.
They see more practical work in schools, clear policies against pressure on teachers for better grades, and more frequent external testing at the national level as ways to improve the situation.
Readers of "Vijesti" emphasize that the bearers of these changes should be the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and other educational institutions, as well as school administrations and teaching staff. That everyone should be involved in resolving this issue is the opinion of 104 of those who filled out the editorial questionnaire.
"Standardized tests that do not give teaching staff 'artistic freedom' in grading, password-protecting the identity of students on the tests, and having them reviewed by teachers who do not teach the specific, tested students," is one of the readers' suggestions.
Another reader says that he "saw that in one semester the teacher asked the child about a 4, but that the student did not know the answer to the question and asked him to bow to him so that he would try harder in the next semester (for the sake of his parents)."
"The teacher asked the same question to a child who was already a 4. That child knew the answer. The first child was given a lower grade, and he felt bad, but he was motivated and even deservedly got an A in the following semester. As a reward, he was given an A at the end of the year," he says.
Readers also cite examples where in Podgorica schools, some teachers refuse to be lenient towards students who have received all A's up to that level of education, claiming that they have to earn them.
"There are individual teachers who are great and they should be used in setting standards," the readers say.
Foreign nationals from countries in the region more successful than other foreign students
According to data from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, in the previous school year there were 5.674 foreign students in primary schools, of which 2.024 were from countries in the region and 3.650 from other countries.
"When we look at students from the region attending public schools, 2.007 were in primary schools, with a success rate of 35,63 percent excellent, 23,04 very good, 23,92 good, 13,42 sufficient and 3,99 percent insufficient. For other foreign citizens, 2.983 students attended public schools, with a success rate of 26,8 percent excellent, 32,34 very good, 31,62 good, 6,67 sufficient and 2,57 percent insufficient," data from MEIS are.
When it comes to secondary schools, the number of foreign students at the end of the last school year was 1.369, of which 661 were from the region.
"In state secondary schools, the success of these students was 24,46 percent excellent, 32,15 very good, 34,77 good, 7,38 sufficient and 1,24 percent insufficient. For other foreign citizens, 557 of them attended state secondary schools, with a success of 26,13 percent excellent, 33,87 very good, 32,43 good, 6,49 sufficient and 1,08 percent insufficient," the Ministry of National Education and Science specified.
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