Career guidance in Montenegro – the review and way forward

Career guidance in Montenegro – the review and way forward

One of the most striking features of education, training and labour market systems in the 21^st century is the one of being increasingly challenged by global developments such as digital transformation, globalisation, demographic change, climate change and global disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It is getting more and more complicated to catch up with all the changes that are happening around us which requires individuals to become real lifelong learners, to acquire new competences to cope with change and to adapt and further develop existing competences. In addition, there is a growing demand for valid information on the changing labour markets and future prospects. Never has a need for supporting people to manage their more frequent and complex transitions within and between education and work been so great. Career development support – that is lifelong career guidance and counselling, and in particular career education, is the buzzing word throughout the world, and more and more reviews and international researches are investigating the state-of-play and its impact of it on the successful transitions we make in our lives.

ETF helped Montenegro in reviewing the state of the national/state-wide career development support system. The objective of the review is to describe existing capacities and development potentials of career development support systems, not just services or policies, to inform policy and practice enhancement in a system approach, to support the selection of country priorities for further system development and future planning, and to inform ongoing and future EU and ETF activities, like the Youth Guarantee and IPA.

The review process was led by a local expert under the coordination of ETF and included (a) desk research and individual consultation interviews, (b) a national consultation meeting that involved all relevant stakeholders to clarify open questions from desk research, to add details and triangulate desk research findings by listening to different points of views from Ministries of education, labour and youth, social partner representatives, youth organizations, practitioners, employer organizations, sector representatives, researchers, (c) review report finalization, translation and distribution, (d) discussion of findings with national authorities to identify priority areas for further system development, (e) a wide validation event to discuss the review findings and how to move forward in priority areas identified, and (f) last revision of the report that is being published in both English and national language.

The whole process was highly interactive and resulted in elaborate findings and a list of recommendations on how to improve career guidance support in Montenegro.

Key findings of the review

It is evident that Montenegro has a history of providing this kind of support to various target groups in one way or another. In recent times, the first national Strategy of lifelong career guidance was adopted in 2011. A good deal of the infrastructure necessary for the career guidance system has been set up to some extent (strategies, training programmes for school CG advisors, manuals on how to provide support at schools, piloting the so-called Centres for Informing and Professional Counselling, etc.). However, due to a good number of different stakeholders involved in the process impaired with poor coordination and cooperation mechanisms, the system does not function as a whole but rather as fragmented pieces of a unit which lacks coherence and cohesion.

The review is organized in chapters, and each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of the career guidance system (policy framework, coordination and cooperation, main services and activities, funding, access, use of technology, quality of provision), followed by a conclusion and detailed recommendations for each chapter. On top of that, three main recommendations regarding the system have been identified and agreed on with the national authorities in the world of education and work:

1. Strengthening the CGC process at primary and secondary schools by offering a systematic provision of this support to students and training school leaders and school teams. The training would include Interpretation of LMI, Using technologies for CGC, involving parents, leading group and individual CGC activities, motivating students to take part in CGC, close cooperation with employers/employer organisations etc.

2. Strengthening coordination and cooperation at the state level by a clear division of roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder involved in the process. Explicit nomination of a formal entity for strategic leadership or a cross-ministerial working group or a national lifelong guidance forum is a must. Boosting the exchange of data among institutions and thus using statistics and LMI in career guidance and counselling will improve the overall process.

In addition to the state-level coordination and cooperation, similar local partnerships with other stakeholders should be established, with secondary schools (especially VET schools) being leaders of the process. VET schools are to be municipal learning organizations (it should also improve adult education provision), and employers, PES offices, local authorities, local NGOs, youth clubs, social workers, universities, and primary schools are to be involved in the partnership. As there are already local partnerships in 21 municipalities put in place, this needs to be capitalized on in relation to a better CGC system.

3. Improve Career guidance and counselling for vulnerable groups, including young not in employment, education or training by designing ways to outreach those who are difficult to reach and vulnerable groups (women, persons with disabilities, NEETs, remote areas, Roma population, etc.). More assistance needs to be provided to those who really need it, as these groups are in the most difficult situation. Innovative solutions need to be in place in order to first identify these people, and then approach them with the CGC services. In doing so, NGOs should be counted on and used to outreach those in need. Specific methodologies and tools to meet the needs of diverse users need to be developed.

As we are living in a technologically advanced era, the use of ICT for career guidance and counselling should be a cross-cutting issue in all 3 priority areas.

The fact that all the ministries and institutions that have been involved in the design of the review do recognize the importance of a high-quality career support system for individuals when making their education and career decisions indicates that there is an understanding of the process which now needs to be translated into meaningful plans and actions aiming at making the most of a high-performing system. Designing successful coordination and cooperation mechanisms at the state and local levels, followed by a review and improvement of career support systems at schools and for vulnerable groups and wider use of modern technology might be a key to success.

Helping each individual move through rather complex and not-easy-to-understand paths and transition from education to work and vice versa in modern times is a must for a society which intends to be people-oriented and based on knowledge. The review builds a starting point for future close cooperation in this field.

Thank you for reading this blog. You can find the national report here: https://www.etf.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2022-09/ETF_WB%20synthesi…