1. Career guidance and counseling services
2. Financing
3. Proof of quality
 

Relevant strategies in which you can find defined measures for employment and career guidance of importance for young people in Montenegro, which refer to:

The strategy of career guidance and counseling in Montenegro expired in 2020, while a new strategy is being developed.

The previous Strategy defined the role of ministries, service providers and interested parties. 

The Vocational Education Strategy in Montenegro 2020-2024 recognizes the need to improve mechanisms for researching labor market needs. In researching the needs of the labor market, analyzes of sector commissions are used, which can apply methods such as structured interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, etc.

It is important to point out that in the Law on Basic Education, which was first adopted in 2002 and revised in 2017, a provision was introduced that special attention should be paid to the career guidance and education of teachers, students and adults. 

When it comes to educational policies that deal with the implementation of career guidance programs, changes were introduced in various educational laws in schools: 

Law on Basic Education and Upbringing

Law on secondary education and upbringing 

Law on Adult Education 

The Labor Law of Montenegro, which prescribes the right to education, professional training and advanced training.

In the employment system, this area is defined by the Law on mediation in employment and rights during unemployment and the Rulebook on active job seeking. In accordance with these legal solutions, professional orientation is recognized as an activity of preparation for employment and is defined as a service for the labor market that includes a set of different professional procedures that identify the possibilities of an unemployed person when choosing an occupation, changing occupations and making decisions related to career development, i.e. harmonizing individual needs with the requirements of the labor market.

The Law on Youth regulates the way of establishing and implementing youth policy, as well as the measures and activities undertaken with the aim of improving the social position of young people and creating conditions for fulfilling the needs of young people in all areas of interest to young people.

In the Strategy for Youth 2017-2021, the Ministry of Sports and Youth has defined several measures related to the field of Employment, which refer to:

- Removed barriers for access to the labor market for all young people
- Support for the development of youth entrepreneurship
- Established an integrated and holistic support system for young people for the transition to dignified employment
- Reduction of youth inactivity (NEET)
 

Career guidance and counseling services

The ministries that are responsible for operational guidance and counseling in Montenegro are:

Ministry of Education https: Ministry of Sports and Youth 

Ministry of Sports and Youth https://www.gov.me/cyr/ms

Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare 

The goal of career guidance and counseling services, as defined in the Strategy of Career Guidance and Counseling of Montenegro, is to provide each individual with:
- To better understand themselves and thus make the right decisions in the field of education and professional development
- To explore opportunities for learning, employment or work
- To plan and manage changes in the field of his studies and work, and in this way to manage his career the basic purpose of such centers is to prepare information that can be useful when planning a career. CIPS also provides advisory services and, in cooperation with schools, conducts workshops for students and parents. CIPS is a place where users can get free information that can be useful in career planning. Counselors at CIPS help service users make career decisions.

Youth Guarantees are currently in the final stages of development and Information not available at the moment.
The Employment Office of Montenegro plays an important role in career guidance. 

The Employment Office plans and coordinates supply and demand on the labor market. As an organizational institution on the labor market, the Institute, by continuously monitoring and recognizing social and economic trends, significantly contributes to the improvement of the efficiency of the labor market in meeting active and expected needs for personnel. Through the implementation of various educational activities, the transition from school to the world of work is facilitated for the unemployed, the employability of unemployed persons is increased, especially those who have difficulty finding employment: young, elderly unemployed persons with inadequate knowledge and qualifications, persons with disabilities, etc.
More detailed information about service providers can be found in link

Non-formal education is described in more detail in A guide through the system of non-formal education in Montenegro.

Target group

The target group of these measures are young people who are still in the education system or are transitioning from the education system to the labor market. Next to this NEET population, is also one of the specific groups that will be more involved through Youth Guarantees.

Financing

As for the way of financing the Centers for career guidance and professional counseling, no separate budget item is allocated, but they are provided within the Sector for active employment measures, and the financing is planned in accordance with the Activity Plan for the following year.
In the last two years, not too many activities were planned for CIPS, considering the drastic reduction of the state budget according to the Ministry of Education and Culture. Activities on this basis of planned annual activities have been reduced to a minimum. Within these services, the work is performed by persons employed by the Employment Agency of Montenegro, and the profiles of the employees are mainly psychologists and economists.
It is important to note that the premises where CIPS operate are owned by ZZZCG, except for one that is under lease, which greatly facilitates their re-operation.
Currently, no information is available regarding the annual budget allocated for the operation of CIPS.

Quality insurance

When it comes to quality assurance, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Education issued licenses to the organizers of adult education "ZOPT" doo Podgorica, the Society for Employment, Adult Education, Organizing and Performing Psychosocial Professional Rehabilitation.

Mechanisms for quality assurance:

• Career guidance and counseling is one of the basic, standardized work processes of the ZOPT-Centre, which takes place through active employment policy programs (APZ) for unemployed persons, professional rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities, and adult education/training programs);
 

• Quality is ensured by working in accordance with the set quality standards ISO 9001:2016 (quality manual, internal organizational regulations for the mentioned processes and the system of internal checks) in order to effectively manage the quality management system;

• The activity is carried out in accordance with the legal legislation in the field of education, employment and standards for the implementation of professional rehabilitation measures and activities;

• Quality is guaranteed by personnel appointments (employees with a bachelor's degree in andrology for adult education programs and other experts, team members, trained and engaged in career guidance and employment support programs for the unemployed and persons with disabilities (PWD).

Quality monitoring mechanisms refer to:

• Participant satisfaction surveys (through instruments - questionnaires, etc.);
• Career planning, monitoring the implementation of the plan, mentoring;
• Monitoring the activities of participants, mediation in the employment of participants, mobility;
• Monitoring the person at the employer, after employment and providing the necessary support;
• Satisfaction surveys and survey analyzes of employers and service providers;
• Program evaluation

When it comes to the main criteria/indicators/standards used to assess the quality of services:

• Satisfaction of program participants (employment support, professional rehabilitation and education aimed at career development);
• Satisfaction of employers and service providers;
• Number of program participants (employment support, professional rehabilitation and education for the purpose of career development);
• Program success (number of employed participants per completed program, performance reports);
• Development of the network of employers (base of employers with contacts);
• Evaluation of the education coordinator and opinion of the expert team.

The main outcomes of quality assurance mechanisms are:

• Feedback from the participants, during and after the career guidance program, psycho-motivational workshops, etc. (oral, evaluation of expectations from the beginning of the program, satisfaction questionnaires);
• Feedback from the employer who hired an unemployed person, a person with a disability (verbally, through a questionnaire on the employee's work efficiency and work behavior);
• Feedback from program orderers - ZZZCG, project partners, employers, NGO organizations that employ PWDs (oral feedback, via questionnaire...);
• Feedback from family members of program participants.

When it comes to the main criteria, standards for assessing the quality of higher education services, the information is contained in more detail in the Evaluation that was done by the Agency for Control and Quality Assurance of Higher Education (AKOKVO).