Montenegro: Enhancing competitiveness and accelerating european union integration – the role of higher education

Abstract

Strong motivation to join European Union has been the key driver of educational reforms in Montenegro. As a result, the educational system has undergone numerous changes in the last decade, primarily by implementing a set of reforms contained within the Bologna process. A major change in the legal framework was set out by the Law of Higher Education passed in 2003, which has been drafted on the European model and in line with the Bologna Declaration. Despite a significant progress in the formal alignment with the requirements of the Bologna process, the strategic changes intended to transform higher education so that it supports transition towards knowledge based economy, there are still numerous unresolved questions and dilemmas facing Montenegrin educational system. These questions and issues are largely driven by the politics of reform in the early years which was dictated by the country's leadership efforts to secure Montenegro's independence, which has weakened the government's leverage in pushing through a major overhaul of the higher education system.