The COVID19 pandemic changed many things and had a strong impact on education systems around the world. Protecting children, students and employees while  ensuring the continuity in learning was a challenge that the Ministry of Education addressed successfully. It allowed to demonstrate the importance of digitizing the education system and the benefits it brings.

Thanks to the creation of efficient synergies and to the readiness of all actors involved, the Montenegrin education system could prepare an adequate response to the current situation through the project #LearnAtHome, promoted by the Ministry of Education, which is an online program addressed to all levels of education. Last school year ended with classes being fully organized online, except for the final exams which took place at colleges.  During that period, about 1,700 lectures from 17 subjects were recorded, for which positive grades were obtained from the entire community. 

The beginning of the school year 2020/21 was organized somewhat differently.  According to the epidemiological situation in Montenegro and the Recommendations for the protection of the health of students and employees in primary and secondary schools during the pandemic COVID-19 of the Institute of Public Health, the 2020/2021 school year began on October 1, 2020 with a so-called combined model in schools:  •    Students of I, II, III, IV, V and VI grades of primary school and students of I grade of secondary school (gymnasiums and vocational schools) attend classes in schools •    Students of VII, VIII and IX grades of primary school and II, III and IV grades of secondary schools (gymnasiums and vocational schools) follow classes online.

Following the best practices aquired, the Ministry of Education continued to foster the distance learning as an additional form of support to all students, regardless of their school attendance.  For this end, the Ministry provided access to the Teams platform to grant the quality and accessibility of  the communication between students and teachers. 225 teachers from 63 schools and 24 educational supervisors participated in the implementation of the concept #LearnHome for the first and second term periods (first semester) for teaching both in Montenegrin and in Albanian language. Over 3,500 lectures from 20 subjects were recorded.

Priority contents for primary and secondary schools for the 2020/2021 calendar are broadcasted on TVCG 2 and MNE SPORT channels, according to the program scheme published on the dedicated website www.ucidoma.me and on the teachers' portal www.skolskiportal.edu.me, the website of the Ministry of Education, social networks and TV channels. For students who attend classes in Albanian, priority content is broadcast on TV Teuta and TV Boin.

Content broadcast on TV channels is also published on the YouTube channel # UčiDoma https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC07wVCV2n_Zpg3WFb9_9vew  and on the portal www.ucidoma.me sorted by levels of education, subjects and classes.

Statistics for last year •    Video lectures broadcasted on three channels: TVCG2, Uči doma 1 and Uči doma 2; •    RTCG2 reached 103,572 views during the first day of the #UciDoma broadcast; •    On average, close to 20,000 spectators watched every minute; •    All materials available on YouTube channel #UciDoma, with: o    400,000 visits and 95,000 users; o    10,000 downloads from the #UciDoma mobile application o    3 million views of the #UciDoma YouTube channel o    Over 80% of citizens watched #UciDoma content •    You Tube channel had the most views from the Region, followed by: Germany, Slovenia, Russia, UK, Macedonia, Hungary, Italy, Canada, Poland and Turkey

Considering the above, along with the analysis conducted, the Montenegrin system has shown a high degree of responsibility and quality to respond to challenges, as well as readiness to continue with further improvement.

Source:  Eurydice Unit Montenegro