Montenegro

LOCAL SKILLS MATTER Montenegro

A study of good practice in the application of territorial governance tools to VET in Montenegro, undertaken as part of the Entrepreneurial Communities initiative.

Short description:

In 2013, as part of its work on multilevel VET governance, the ETF launched its Entrepreneurial Communities initiative to identify and acknowledge local partnerships that foster skills, entrepreneurship and job creation. The goal was to explore and learn from examples in partner countries, in order to understand how these partnerships are formed, the impact they can have on communities and how they can inform VET policy.

This report tells the story of an Entrepreneurial Community based in Budva, and the role of a grassroots visionary leadership in launching and developing an entrepreneurial community built around the Hotel Education Centre (HEC), established in 1998 with funding from the National Bureau of Employment. The partnership has since grown to include the municipality of Budva and the Sector Council for the Tourism Industry. The HEC now provides training in all professions and trades related to the tourism industry, based on close collaboration with major hotels and tourism-related businesses.

The municipality is no longer an aspiring tourist resort. It has become a high-end tourism destination in full expansion mode. It welcomes more than one million tourists each summer, with new hotels opening at a rapid rate and competing for competent human resources – both from within and outside the country.

The HEC collaborates closely with the government on active labour market measures and its courses are very successful. Over 80% of students who attend a six-month training and apprenticeship find employment and 15% start their own business. The HEC and its partners also make important contributions to the formulation of policy for the tourism and hospitality sector. The model has proven so successful that in 2015, for the first time in Montenegro, a local municipality has been allocated a budget for adult learning.

You may read the document below and see the video here.