PM Marković at PMQs: Government continues education system reform, I am pleased that young people dominantly see future in tourism and agriculture

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Podgorica, Montenegro (12 December 2018) – Prime Minister Duško Marković said at the Prime Minister's Questions session that the link between education and the labour market was set as an objective in all strategic documents in the field of education, and that good cooperation between employers and schools remains a priority for the Government in this segment, adding that a series of undertaken activities gave results.

"We are witnesses that professions which require middle level education are deficient every day, even in many European countries that are more developed, and that there is the highest degree of non-compliance between supply and demand in these areas. On the other hand, when it comes to the lack of faculty degrees, these or those titles, we increasingly talk about the non-compliance with the needs of the labour market. We often take very shy about the quality of the acquired knowledge," the Prime Minister said.

Responding to the question of Boris Mugoša, MP, from the Social Democrats of Montenegro about the specific results of the Government's policy regarding the secondary vocational education, the Prime Minister said that the Government, aware of the problem of structural market non-compliance and a rather high volume of employment of foreigners, continued the reform of all levels of education with special emphasis on secondary vocational education.

"For this purpose, a whole set of measures and activities have been implemented, not only at the legislative level. With the support of the Chamber of Commerce, the assumptions were made that students are educated in a real working environment, and the most important amendments to the Law were aimed at restarting the dual education. Today in this system, in 26 schools in the territory of 18 municipalities, we have over 250 employers and around 570 students who have been provided with adequate financial compensation for the efforts invested during studying. I would like to point out that in the previous and this school year, a total of 420 scholarships were awarded to students of vocational schools who decided to study some of the deficient vocations. All this resulted in the fact that in just two years we recorded an increase in enrollment at the so-called third-level education by almost 200%. (2016/17 school year - 566 students, 2018/19 school year - 1561 students)," PM Marković stressed.

The Prime Minister said that the younger generations are gradually changing the awareness that after years of studying, for the average monthly wage, they seek life-long employment in the state administration, and recalled the results of a public opinion poll conducted for the needs of the Government's Communication Strategy according to which young people dominantly think that tourism (76.4% of respondents) and agriculture (68.5% of respondents) will create enough jobs for them. "That's what makes me happy," Prime Minister Marković said. He added that these attitudes of young people show that their view goes further into the future, that their vision of Montenegro is development oriented and that the policies that we implement in the areas of tourism and agriculture will create new, high-quality and well-paid jobs for them.

"On the other hand, our task is to prepare them for the demands of the market through a quality education system, because they will contribute to our personal progress and the development of the society as a whole," the Prime Minister emphasised.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO