Joining forces for the 21st century schools

Podgorica, 8 March 2024

For the digital revolution to happen in schools, we need to provide teachers with training in digital pedagogy and equip classrooms with new technologies, which will enable children to acquire digital skills. This was the key message from today's presentation of the "Digital, Inclusive and Transformative: Quality Education for All" – a joint UN initiative presented by the heads of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, UNICEF, UNESCO, ILO and the UN.

“This initiative aims to address the challenges brought by the digital revolution by creating opportunities for over six thousand girls and boys in the poorest, northern region of Montenegro to develop digital skills in schools every day. Better quality education for these children will bring them better jobs in the 21st century and help them break the cycle of poverty,” said Juan Santander, UNICEF Representative to Montenegro

Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation Andjela Jaksic-Stojanovic stressed that the digital environment has become a natural environment for children and young people and that it is the task of the Ministry to ensure that schools become environments that strongly support the development of digital and other related competencies aligned with the goals of education and upbringing.

“Without sufficient human capacities in the field of information and communication technologies, we cannot implement the digital revolution neither in the educational system nor in other areas, which leads us to the conclusion that the education system has a key role in the process of digital transformation. In this regard, in addition to providing schools with computer equipment, we will strive to intensively work on creating digital content that will improve the educational process and provide schools with enough resources for the modernisation of teaching and work of schools,” stated Anđela Jaksic-Stojanovic, Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation.

According to Acting UN Resident Coordinator in Montenegro Vladimir Gjorgjiev, joint UN initiatives enable merging comparative advantages of different of UN agencies for providing coordinated technical and expert support to the Government in achieving systemic results.

"This initiative is funded by the Montenegro SDG Acceleration Fund, which is designed to consolidate donor funds and direct them towards development initiatives, paying special attention to the most vulnerable groups. Nothing illustrates the justification for the existence of the Fund as clearly as initiatives like this one – a project with a clear vision of supporting the country that leads to sustainable progress in communities", Gjorgjiev said, thanking the partners who have supported the Fund so far – the European Union and the governments of Montenegro, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and Ireland.

Sinisa Šešum, Head of the UNESCO Office in Sarajevo, emphasised that from UNESCO's perspective, quality and inclusive education is the cornerstone of social progress, and its integration with digital technologies is essential for promoting equitable and sustainable development. "This is also our common responsibility for future generations," Sesum added. 

The ILO Skills and Employability Specialist, Alessandra Molz, said that in times of multiple, rapid changes, this organisation defines education and skills as the most important means for individuals to navigate through digital transformation and for society to create a human-centred future of work.

The development of digital teaching materials, the training of teachers and ICT coordinators, equipping and launching EdTech hubs, and organising digital summer camps for pupils are some of the activities that will be implemented within this two-year initiative. Digital content will be an integral part of the Digital School, which has already been developed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation in collaboration with UNICEF.