Average scores
Montenegro performs better than other Western
Balkans systems in reading, maths and science.
These scores are close to those of some
countries in Europe, such as Bulgaria, Greece
and Romania.
Socio-economically advantaged students and
girls perform better than boys and
disadvantaged students.
Policies are needed to help all students
succeed.
67% of upper secondary students attend a vocational programme.
Roughly 55% of these students cannot read
proficiently.
Selection into upper secondary programmes is
not equitable:
Boys are 1.4x more likely than girls
to attend vocational training
programmes
Disadvantaged students are 2.2x more
likely than advantaged students to
attend vocational training programmes
Accounting for gender and socio-economic
status in Montenegro results in a decline in the
performance gap between educational and
vocational programmes.
This suggests that student background, in
addition to ability, can largely shape whether
they attend general education or vocational
programmes.
Montenegro performs better than expected given its level of funding.
However, its expenditure on education is far
less than the OECD average. More spending
could contribute to even higher results.
Principals in Montenegro reported greater concerns
about resource shortages in schools with more
disadvantaged students.
This trend is also seen across
Western Balkans economies and
OECD countries.
Montenegro
Western Balkans
Montenegro
Compared to the average across OECD
countries:
Montenegro tends to use more teacher-
directed instruction
And less adaptive methods that focus on
meeting students’ individual needs.
More teacher-directed instruction is associated
with lower reading performance and more
adaptive instruction is associated with higher
reading performance in
Montenegro
and throughout Western Balkans 5* and
OECD countries.
*No data for North Macedonia
Traditional practices such as teacher-directed instruction are more frequently used in schools with more disadvantaged students and vocational programmes.
Adaptive instructional approaches associated with higher outcomes more frequently occur in schools with more advantaged students and general education programmes.
This is likely to further exacerbate existing performance disparities.