Main funding principles
One of the basic objectives of adult education is to provide all citizens with primary education and the acquisition of the first qualification.
According to the Law on Adult Education, an adult learner does not pay education costs for acquiring primary education, i.e. for undergoing training for the first qualification.
For programmes of education funded from public revenues (programmes of pre-qualification, additional qualification, specialisation, professional development, or key skill acquisition etc.), which are part of the annual plan for education, adults do not pay the costs of education.
The Employment Office funds the overall costs of implementing the programmes of education and training of unemployed persons aimed at acquiring vocational qualifications and key skills which allow for their faster employment.
The Chamber of Economy of Montenegro and the relevant association organise and fund various forms of training and professional development (advising, conferences, fairs, etc.) for their members’ employees.
The Human Resources Administration organises and funds various forms of training and professional development for public administration employees.
Fees paid by learners
An adult learner pays costs of education attended according to the individual contract he/she concludes with adult education provider.
Financial support for adult learners
Training for independent work is a programme that provides an opportunity for an unemployed person without work experience at a certain level of education, to be trained for independent work at that level of education. A participant concludes an employment agreement with employer, as programme provider (for a period of 9 months for persons with acquired tertiary education, i.e. for a period of 6 months for persons with acquired secondary education). The Employment Office provides net salaries for the programme participants, as defined by the General Collective Agreement in line with the coefficient of job complexity, as well as mentoring costs. The programme provider pays contributions for compulsory social insurance, relevant taxes and surtaxes for the participants’ salaries, as well as other justified costs of programme implementation.
Concerning persons with disabilities involved in the programme, the Employment Office covers the overall justified costs of implementation of training for independent work programme from the resources of the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of these persons. The Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment was established in 2008. It operates within the Employment Office. The resources of the Fund are provided from special contributions paid by employers, budget of Montenegro, budget of a local authority unit on the territory of which the person with disability resides, from donations and support of local and foreign legal entities and natural persons, as well as from other sources, in accordance with law.
The resources of the Fund are used for: measures and activities related to professional rehabilitation for unemployed and employed persons with disabilities, co-funding of special employment organisations, programmes of active employment policy in which persons with disabilities take part, subsidies for employers hiring the person with disability, namely: grants for adapting the work space and providing work conditions for hiring a person with disabilities, loan under favourable conditions to purchase machines, equipment and tools required to hire a person with disabilities, partial funding of personal expenses of an assistant (assistant in work) for person with disabilities and subsidies for salaries of people with disabilities they hire. Also, the Fund provides resources for funding grant schemes and offering financial support to unemployed persons with disabilities during their professional rehabilitation and inclusion in the measure of active policy of employment, education and training of adults.
Subsidies for private providers
Unemployed individuals in the Employment Office records can take part in training programme for work with the employer. The programme provider is an employer that is principally from the private sector and has the adequate spatial, technical and technological, staff and financial conditions necessary for the programme implementation, or a pre-contract with a programme sub-provider (adult education provider). The programme is carried out minimum over a period of one month; after the programme implementation, the employer concludes work agreement with the programme participant, minimum for the period of three months. The Employment Office covers part of the programme implementation costs, i.e. covering the overall costs for two to four minimum salaries per programme participant, which depends on the duration of work of the employee after the programme implementation. Justified costs of programme implementation include instructor’s salary, who may be either employed and/or engaged as an external associate, and material costs of programme implementation.