Student Assessment

Student assessment in general upper secondary education is regulated by the Law on Gymnasium and the Rulebook on the manner and procedure of student assessment in gymnasium.

The assessment of students’ knowledge implies monitoring, evaluation, testing and grading their knowledge. The assessment of students’ knowledge is carried out by subject teacher, and is expressed by grades. By monitoring students’ achievements, testing and grading knowledge, the level of achieved knowledge standards, i.e. met obligations determined by educational program is assessed. The performance in certain subjects is expressed by marks on a scale from 1 to 5, where the highest mark (5) is excellent, and the lowest mark (1) is insufficient. The final grade at the end of a school year is based on all marks obtained in the classification period.

During the teaching year (formative assessment), the assessment is done on the basis of oral and written examination of a student’s knowledge (written assignment, test, quiz, etc.), in accordance with the curriculum. The knowledge assessment of students with special educational needs is done in a manner in which a student can best express the knowledge they acquired, in accordance with the individualised development curriculum.

A student has completed a school grade if, he/she has received positive marks for all subjects.

The overall student performance is determined as the average value of positive marks obtained for all subjects.

A student has completed a grade:

• with excellent performance, if he/she has achieved the average result of at least 4.50;
• with very good performance, if he/she has achieved the average result of at least 3.50;
• with good performance, if he/she has achieved the average result of at least 2.50;
• with sufficient performance, if he/she has achieved the average result of at least 2.

General upper secondary education ends by matura exam. The matura exam is taken externally and is a test of students’ ability to adopt the necessary standards of knowledge. For the general gymnasium the matura exam consists of compulsory subjects and one subject chosen by student. The compulsory subjects include:

• Montenegrin language or mother tongue and literature;
• Mathematics or the first foreign language.

The subject chosen by student of general gymnasium is a subject significant for continuing education which meets the matura standard.

The matura exam for specialised gymnasium consists of compulsory subjects and one subject significant for continuing education that meets the matura standard. For classes educated according to the curriculum for mathematical gymnasium, compulsory subjects include Montenegrin language or mother tongue and literature and mathematics or analysis with algebra for students who take the Matura exam in the school year 2020/2021. For classes educated according to the curriculum for philological gymnasium, compulsory subjects include Montenegrin language or mother tongue and literature and the first foreign language.

Students can take mathematics and foreign language at basic or upper level, in accordance with the examination catalogue. A more detailed manner, procedure and time for taking the matura exam is regulated by the Rulebook on the manner, procedure and time for taking the matura exam in gymnasium.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports has created a web portal for parents www.ocjene.edu.me which enables parents to monitor grades, absence and the conduct of their child. The portal also allows parents to communicate with the class teacher and offers information on scheduled parent-teacher meetings, as well as other information. To register on the portal, parents receive a username and password from the class teacher, the entry of which provides them with access to information about the child, which are recorded in the MEIS application. When accessing the portal, a parent is only provided with information related to his/her child. The portal gives an overview of all grades per subject (oral examination, written examination and tests, final grades, etc.) as well as information on when the grades were recorded in the MEIS application. For each subject there is a chronological overview of grades, as well as the average grade. The portal for parents was created within the MEIS project (Montenegrin Education Information System).

Progression of Students

A student progresses to the succeeding grade if he/she has received positive marks from all subjects, in accordance with provisions of the Law on Gymnasium. A student with maximum three insufficient marks at the end of the school year, has to take makeup exam in order to complete the grade. A student who has failed to pass the makeup exam cannot complete the grade. A student with more than three insufficient marks at the end of a school year also cannot complete the grade. A student may repeat the same grade once. Throughout gymnasium education a student may repeat a grade twice.

A student may complete a grade by taking supplemental and equivalency examination, as well as final grade examination. Final grade examination at the end of the teaching year, i.e. school year is taken by a student who, for justified reasons, was not graded at the end of the academic year from one or more subjects. A student should also take final grade examination in subjects for which he/she did not attend at least one third of the number of periods envisaged by the curriculum for the teaching year. Final grade examination may also be taken by gifted students, students who receive parallel education and students who train for and compete in a particular sport, whether independently or within a sports club, at the proposal of the national sports association.

Taking makeup, supplementary, equivalency and final grade examination is regulated by Rulebook on the procedure for taking makeup, supplementary, equivalency and final grade examination in gymnasium

Certification

The law prescribes an obligation of institution carrying out publicly valid curricula to issue public documents. At the end of each grade, a student receives a final report card. After completing the matura exam, student receives a diploma.

Rulebook on the form and manner of keeping pedagogical records and the content of public documents in schools regulates the form and content of the final report card, diploma and other documents schools have to keep or issue to gymnasium students. Completed gymnasium education allows one to continue education at all higher education institutions.