On the occasion of 24 January – International Education Day, the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) highlights the continued decline in the quality of education in Montenegro. While there have been some improvements in infrastructure investments in recent years, key issues such as overcrowded schools, inadequate equipment, poor working conditions for teachers, and a lack of focused learning remain unresolved. Furthermore, and significantly, education continues to be viewed predominantly as a resource for reinforcing party and/or ideological structures, and such an education system fails to prioritize students, teaching, and learning, nor does it contribute to the integrity of the teaching profession.
Findings from the CCE research, including corruption in Montenegro’s education sector, reveal that majority of citizens – 55.4% – perceive corruption in education as moderate or high, while 45.5% assess it as low or very low. Notably, perceptions of corruption increase with higher education levels, being lowest in kindergartens and highest at the university level. Public dissatisfaction with anti-corruption efforts in education is dominant, – 56.5% of respondents express discontent. Furthermore, there is also a strong perception that employment and advancement in education are primarily driven by political (35.7%) or personal and family connections (34.7%), while only a minority (17.8%) trust that these processes are conducted legally, based on knowledge and ability.
The CCE reminds that the education system fails to prepare students for the labour market due to overly extensive and outdated curricula, as well as evaluation system focused on memorization and rote reproduction instead of developing critical thinking, cognitive skills, and competencies. Teachers often act more as disciplinarians and assessors than as genuine educators and mentors. Tools like electronic gradebooks are underutilized, while frequent teacher changes and stressful assessments negatively affect students.
In addition to the many shortcomings of the education system, attention must also be drawn to the mismanagement of funds for non-essential educational purposes, such as financing religious schools. The State Audit Institution (SAI) issued a negative opinion on the compliance of funding for secondary religious schools with the General Law on Education and Upbringing. Consequently, the CCE has filed a criminal complaint with the Special State Prosecutor’s Office against unidentified individuals who, between 2019 and 2023, allocated €4.9 million for funding religious schools in Montenegro, contrary to legal procedures for financing institutions implementing nationally recognized education programmes.
Peer violence in schools across Montenegro is on the rise, raising serious concerns about safety and well-being of students, as evidenced with an example in the “Niko Rolović” Gymnasium in Bar, where student was stabbed in the schoolyard. The CCE research among the general population indicates that 65.7% perceive peer violence as occasionally or frequently present, while 58.2% of high school students report its presence in their schools or communities. Furthermore, cases of sexual harassment by teachers remain largely unaddressed without broader public engagement, as highlighted by a recent case at the “Slobodan Škerović” Gymnasium in Podgorica.
While key laws and strategies in education are expected to be adopted, the proposed documents do not suggest significant reforms that would enable a modern and efficient education system focused on students.
Snežana Kaluđerović, Senior Legal Advisor