Montenegro

The Ministry of Education and Science has primary administrative responsibility for Montenegro's basic education system and for the secondary and tertiary levels of instruction as well. At the federal level, the Rectors' Conference of Yugoslavia seated in Belgrade also formulates and administers education policy and practices. Costs of primary and secondary education are covered by the government in Montenegro, and mid-day meals are provided at state expense. In the year 2000 public expenditures on education and training in Montenegro amounted to about 7.1 percent of the GDP. Most of the government expenditures went to salaries of education-related personnel (91 percent) with much smaller portions of the public budget going to investments (5.6 percent) and school equipment (3.2 percent). Subsidies to student residence halls, student loans, textbook production, commuting expenses of educational staff, maintenance costs, and pupil and student fees also are included in the state budget for education. Parents and other individuals provide relatively modest amounts of additional funds for education-related expenses.

Significantly, international donors provided substantial grants and loans for education in Montenegro beginning in the 1990s, even before the sizable injection of international funds that followed the June 2001 international donors conference for the former Yugoslavia held in Brussels. For example, the EC "Obnova" Programme provided 500,000 euro for elementary education in 1998, and UNICEF gave US$1 million for basic education, school furniture, and teaching training in active-learning methodology in 1999. In the year 2000 UNICEF provided US$1.4 million to further support teacher training, education for peace and tolerance, and strategizing in early childcare programming. In 1999 the Open Society Institute (OSI) gave US$500,000 for the "Step by Step" program in preprimary and primary schools and to support educational reform and capacity building; in 2000 OSI gave US$647,000 for similar measures and to support higher education. WUS Austria provided funding in the amount of 450,000 DEM for each semester of the 1998-1999 academic year for the reconstruction of schools and other infrastructure, including Internet access and a University Internet Centre, and for other educational purposes, such as the introduction of language and computing courses for students and staff. International donors active in Montenegro's education sector also have included nongovernmental organizations and government-related agencies such as Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, the British Council, the Danish Council, Cooperacione Italiana, COOPI, HELP, Swiss Disaster Relief, and JEN.