Centre for Civic Education (CCE) has submitted numerous comments, proposals, and suggestions during the public consultation organized by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation on the Draft Law on Higher Education. These contributions aim to improve the quality of higher education and align it with the labour market needs in Montenegro.
The CCE regrets that the public consultation on this crucial legislative text was reduced to the legal minimum, including non-working days during national holidays.
The key changes this law should introduce is the establishment of a better framework for academic freedom, quality research and education, inclusivity, and accessibility for all students. It should also enable the development of academic programmes that address labour market needs rather than the employment needs of staff in higher education institutions.
The CCE reminds that the policies of previous governments regarding higher education in Montenegro largely focused on legislative reforms touted as modernizing and improving the education system. However, the path to this undeniable goal was not well-conceived and failed to consider the necessity for education to align with labour market needs in Montenegro. This issue is not adequately addressed in this draft either, as it overlooks the fact that the labour market primarily requires 240 ECTS for undergraduate studies. Instead, the draft continues to favour the 180 ECTS model for undergraduate studies, ignoring the fact that two-thirds of the labour market encompasses regulated professions whose undergraduate studies worldwide typically last four, five, or six years to ensure a minimum standard of knowledge and quality. Therefore, the CCE believes it is essential to harmonize study models so that education and workforce preparation are ahead of labour market demands, enabling dynamic market challenges to be met or preempted, partly by training university students for academic, applied, and vocational studies where there is demand.
This law should also ensure that students are granted equal legal protection in terms of funding, regardless of the type of educational institution and its founder (whether state or private), while maintaining autonomy in the enrollment process for desired faculties.
The CCE believes that higher education institutions should be autonomous solely in teaching, research, and practice. However, budgetary funds from the Government of Montenegro must be subject to control and inspection oversight.
Furthermore, although the responsibility of academic staff is regulated by a separate Law on Academic Integrity, it is also essential for the Law on Higher Education to include provisions addressing the accountability of academic staff who violate the Ethical Code, including including sanctions and the obligation to document such violations when considering appointments to academic positions.
The CCE also proposes that the work and operation of the Higher Education Council be more precisely regulated. This includes increasing the number of members from various scientific fields, industries, and societal sectors, with clearly defined appointment procedures.
It is also necessary to specify the procedures for accreditation and reaccreditation conducted by the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Additionally, the agency’s management board should be open to all social partners and industry representatives, with clearly defined selection processes.
The critical issue of electing university rectors should be defined to decentralize the process and reduce the space for political and partisan engineering, which has been observed for decades. In this context, the CCE suggests that the Senate of the University of Montenegro, rather than the Board of Directors (as is currently the case), elects the rector from among full professors based on a public competition and submitted development programme for the University. The same individual be eligible for election no more than twice. This inclusion of the Senate ensures greater competitiveness, transparency, and inclusivity. Similarly, the election of vice-rectors should also be limited to two terms, unlike the current situation where these positions are effectively unlimited.
The CGO proposes maintaining the start of the academic year on 1 October rather than 1 September, as planned. This would better align with the September exam periods and support students who work occasional seasonal jobs, thereby helping to prevent the outflow of students and young labour.
Additionally, the CCE suggests that higher education institutions should be obligated to admit all students who meet the admission criteria and pass entrance exams, without discretionary rights to reduce the number of available places defined by the Ministry’s license relative to the number of qualified applicants.
Beyond these points, the CCE has provided numerous other comments and suggestions, hoping that the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation will seriously consider and incorporate them into the draft law. This will contribute to higher-quality and more competitive higher education aligned with labour market needs, ultimately enabling better professional development for the student population.
Snežana Kaluđerović, Senior Legal Advisor