The initiative to establish ERP was launched in 1999. It was estimated at the time that quality education was a key factor for the development and democratization of the country and that the Foundation in Montenegro and OSI, through its network Education Support Program (ESP), had the capacity to initiate and make a significant contribution to Montenegrin education system reform.

Between 2000 and 2003, the Foundation provided expert, logistic and financial support to all key segments in education reform, namely:

-  development and identification of the reform’s strategic concept, principles and aims;

-  education legislation reform;

-  curricula reform;

-  institution building/reorganization of the Ministry of Education and Science;

-  professional development of teachers and managers of educational institutions;

-  upgrade of textbook publishing;

-  media campaign/public information on education reform.

During this period, the Foundation was the only donor supporting relevant institutions and actors in creating a comprehensive and systemic approach to the education reform process. This approach gave a number of results: Book of Changes, key education reform document that set the foundations, principles and aims of the new system, was published in 2001; new education laws (up to university level) that enabled implementation of envisaged changes were adopted in late 2002; in 2003, National Curriculum Council adopted new curricula for pre-school, elementary and general-program secondary education and curricula for certain subjects. In the meantime, a series of training events was organized for Textbook and Teaching Aids Department teams, which helped to a large extent to enable this institution to develop new curricula in a rather short time. Due to all these activities, provided key support by the Foundation, Montenegrin schools were well-prepared for the introduction of new curricula in the autumn of 2004.

Given the challenges of new curricula implementation in the organizational, human resource and financial sense, the Foundation defined the following ERP strategic priorities for the period 2003-2006: involving other donors in education reform process; support to key segments of the reform (primarily teacher training and building new education institutions) and its transparency.

In order to mobilize other donors, the Foundation – helped by the OSI network SEE Education Support Program and OSI-Brussels – supported three information-sharing donor meetings in 2003 (held in Brussels, Belgrade and Podgorica), along with organization of the November 2003 donor conference in Podgorica. In addition, the Foundation provided expert support to the Ministry of Education and Science and Bureau for Educational Services (BES) in developing the terms of reference and preparing documentation for the World Bank loan. These extensive activities produced results: as of 2004, education reform process received support under bilateral agreements with Hungary, Finland, Slovenia and Canada, with World Bank funds effective as of 2005.

With the aim to support decentralization in education and delegation of certain functions and responsibilities from the Ministry of Education and Science to the newly established Bureau for Educational Services and Examination Center, between 2003 and 2006 the Foundation initiated a number of projects to strengthen the capacities of the given institutions. Support was granted to the project of establishing quality assurance system and train BES staff to monitor and evaluate new curricula. A functional analysis of BES was developed within the Capacity Development Program (CDP), implemented in partnership with the Government of Montenegro and UNDP. BES Strategic Plan was developed based on the findings of the analysis. This period also included implementation of the first external pilot testing of achievements of third-grade students in Montenegro, which helped the development of Examination Center human resources. The Foundation supported Montenegro’s participation in the OECD project for assessing student achievements after they leave elementary school (PISA Project), as an important mechanism for strengthening the capacities for quality assurance and testing and improving the education system.

Better transparency of institutional operation is the Foundation’s strategic goal that cuts across all of its programs. In the area of ERP, it resulted in a series of publications, including the Information Bulleting on Nine-Grade Elementary School, a series of booklets containing new curricula for all compulsory and elective subjects in elementary and secondary schools, guides on new general-program secondary school and implementation of compulsory elective subjects and their role in supplementing the matura standard etc.

To enhance the inclusiveness of the education system and encourage quality involvement of students, parents and other stakeholders in the education reform process, the Foundation started making a pool of partner NGOs representing students’ and parents’ interests. This resulted in projects supporting student associations in elementary schools and research projects on parents’ views on reformed elementary and secondary school.

In line with the Foundation’s strategic priority concerning intensive support to introduction of European standards and promotion of universal values, based additionally on the judgment that the dynamics of changes is to an extent working against their quality and on the comprehensive evaluation of ERP conducted by the expert Johanna Crighton in 2005, from 2007 to date, ERP has been oriented towards ensuring quality and inclusiveness of the education system together with quality participation of students, teachers and parents in school life and education system.

To this end, the Foundation supported projects aimed to strengthen the capacities of Parents’ Association of Montenegro and Association of Youth with Handicap, as major partners in the achievement of the defined reform aims. The Foundation also initiated introduction of media literacy as an elective subject in secondary schools (development of curriculum and teaching materials, teacher training) and supported development, publication and distribution of the Handbook on Sexual and Reproductive Health. The Foundation supported several summer youth camps, training elementary and secondary school students on student activism and their new role in the reformed school, giving them an opportunity to develop sensitivity and learn about inclusive education and inclusion of children with special needs. This year’s camps will address the issues of reproductive health, risky behavior and media literacy.  The Foundation supports introduction of volunteerism in the education system and also contributes to the introduction of sustainable development concept through projects that instruct students to value physical space.

In order to add to the quality of education process, the Foundation supported several projects that aimed to evaluate reform implementation (evaluation of implementation of new curricula in the first cycle of elementary school, evaluation of individual subject curricula for the first three grades of elementary school). The largest of these projects, an evaluation of implementation of reform tools (curricula, teaching methods, extracurricular activities) in elementary and secondary schools in Montenegro, is currently ongoing. Throughout the given period, the Foundation has supported teacher training in various areas: work with young learners, development of critical thinking, support to mentorship schemes etc.