Students showed a lower level of knowledge than expected, they all have to work together to solve the problem

The results that the participants showed in the tests is something that worried us, and the Ministry of Education and other institutions intend to continue to work in order to undertake concrete activities, Marko Vukašinović, head of the Directorate for Programming and Implementation of EU Funds in the Ministry of Education, said in Colors of the Morning.

The results of the Education Sector Analysis from 2015 to 2020 showed that almost half of our students are worse than the worst from other countries.

"Students showed a lower level of knowledge than expected. Students are not aware of the context in which they are doing these tasks. We should not point the finger at anyone individually, but with the joint forces of decision-makers, people from the system and foreign agencies, we should contribute in order to recognized problems were adequately addressed," said Vukašinović.

The President of the Educational Union of Montenegro, Olivera Leković, said that she was not surprised by the results of the Analysis, and that this is something that has been pointed out for years.

"The institutions do not hear us. Not even the Ministry itself, which is centralized. Many emails were sent to the Ministry and institutes. No one respects our reactions to the program and textbooks. We are ordered to do some things from above, and if they cannot be implemented we are the culprits on duty. On the other hand, both students and parents see us as culprits on duty," said Leković.

He states that the comprehensive reform started in 2001, and that the education system is regressing and being completely neglected.

Ivana Ceković, coordinator of the Montenegrin UNICEF education program, said that numerous data obtained through the Analysis were calculated for the first time and that now we have a situation based on evidence.

"The education system is facing many weaknesses that we have to work on together. As a UNICEF representative, we tried to include numerous actors in order to jointly identify the fields in which we need to work. It is certainly infrastructure, but it is important to understand that the development of education cannot happen if we only focus on one area," she said.