Ongoing projects
Building capacities for the implementation of dual education in higher education in Montenegro (DUALMON) is Erasmus+ project whose implementation started in January 2021, with a goal of establishing the legal framework and generic model of dual education within the system of higher education in Montenegro. Through the introduction of dual education, demand and interests of both, students and companies would be supported. In addition, the project will result in recommendations for higher education institutions in Montenegro, which will be directed towards solving this problem. The coordinator of the project is the University of Novi Sad from Serbia, and the partners from Montenegro, are ACQAHE, Ministry of Education and Chamber of Commerce, as well as the following companies: Voli, Telekom, Montenegro Stars Hotels and Crnogorska plovidba.
Micro-credentials for teacher professional development (MOOC-based micro-credentialing for teacher professional development – CRED4TECH) is Erasmus+ project that begun in 2023, and will last until 2026 with the task of developing new or improving existing qualifications in the field of higher education. ACQAHE’s task would be to define the type of qualification that will be developed in accordance with its needs, as well as to form national working groups that will work on its implementation. The goals defined by this project are the reduction of deficiencies in the professional development of teachers through learning and improvement of competencies and the establishment of various MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) short training programs, in order to provide teaching staff with better opportunities for further professional development. The CRED4TEACH project consortium consists of 15 institutions from 7 countries: Albania, Estonia, Germany, Montenegro, Portugal, Turkey and Ukraine.
Promoting internationalization of higher education institutions in Montenegro through capacity building for studies in English language (ME-Study in English) is Erasmus+ structural project that began with implementation in March 2024. Project is aimed at building capacity in the field of higher education (Erasmus+ CBHE). The goal of the project is to improve the process of internationalization of higher education institutions in Montenegro, which will ultimately result in an increase in the number of study programs in English, and thus a greater participation of visiting professors from EU universities in the teaching of these programs, as well as an increase in the number of enrolled foreign students. The ME-Study in English project will enable a more complete integration of Montenegrin universities into the European Higher Education Area. The role of ACQAHE is to improve legislative framework by transponing valuable practice from EHEA in this field, to nurture dialogue among stakeholders in HE system by organising several workshops, as well as to participate in research on market demand related to studies in English.
Completed projects
Fostering internationalization at Montenegrin HEIs through Efficient Strategic Planning (IESP)was Erasmus+ project coordinated by the University of Montenegro. The project focused on the improvement of international competitiveness and visibility of Montenegrin HEIs through establishing of optimal model of building capacities for the different aspects of internationalization, including: Strategy of internationalization, with action plans, accompanying documents for internationalization, internationalization of research and innovations, international mobility of staff and students, international networking and evaluation of quality of internationalization. ACQAHE provided support for the development of the Strategy for Internationalization of Higher Education Institutions in Montenegro, and successfully implemented the accreditation process of the international and interdisciplinary summer schools “Entrepreneurship in Heritage Tourism” at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management and “Sustainable Development of the Yachting and Cruising Industry” at the Maritime Faculty in Kotor. The summer schools, as a product of activities within the IESP project, represent the best example of internationalization and increasing the visibility of our higher education institutions in the international community. ACQAHE provided support to the University of Montenegro during the preparation of the application for the accreditation of summer schools, and at the same time, for the first time, analyzed the ways for their accreditation.
Quality education for all was project coordinated by the Council of Europe, aimed to encourage quality education through the adoption of the standards and practices of the Council of Europe, especially through the use of the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture and the adoption of good practices of the Platform for Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education (ETINED). By promoting democratic culture and academic integrity as key elements of quality education, institutions will develop mechanisms to strengthen academic integrity in higher education. Academic integrity is inseparable from the quality of higher education, so through evaluation mechanisms, a link is created that will complement each other. During 2022, through the aforementioned project, ACQAHE adopted a supplementary standard on academic integrity in the process of reaccreditation of higher education institutions. By adopting the new supplementary standard, ACQAHE committed itself to evaluate the mechanisms of academic integrity and the strengthening of the culture of integrity during the external evaluation procedures of higher education institutions. This primarily refers to the detection, monitoring and prevention of all forms of violation of academic integrity and risk management in self-evaluation procedures and activity plans. By not fulfilling the criteria related to the named standard, the institution will not be able to be reaccredited.
Better academic qualifications through quality assurance (BAQUAL) was Erasmus+ project coordinated by the Ministry of Science and Education of Croatia. The project aim was to identify a common standard in evaluation procedures and encourage the application of the qualification framework in internal and external quality assurance procedures in Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. As part of this project, a national Working Group was formed, which had the task of developing a completely new qualification standard – a professional qualification, through the design of a lifelong learning program aimed at improving the competencies of teachers in higher education. The project made a special contribution to the strengthening of research capacities within ACQAHE and the creation of a completely new professional qualification with the aim of improving teaching capacities in the field of higher education in Montenegro. By improving pedagogical competences, the quality of knowledge that is transferred to students increases. During the year 2022, the working group produced an Analysis on the competences of teachers in higher education, which will represent the basis for the development and implementation of lifelong learning programs with the aim of improving teacher competences.
Integration of key competences into the education system of Montenegro (IKCES) was the project coordinated by the Ministry of Education. The aim was to integrate eight key competences in all levels of education in Montenegro. In addition to the Montenegrin partners, the Office for Economic Policy and Regional Development (EPRD) participated in the project. In the part of quality assurance, the new standard on the inclusion of competencies in teacher study programs was developed.
Support to European QA agencies in meeting the ESG (SEQA ESG) was Erasmus+ project whose coordinator was European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), and whose aim was to support newly established agencies for ensuring the quality of higher education in the application of ESG. In addition to Montenegro, representatives of the quality assurance systems of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Malta, Moldova and Albania participated in the Project. The conclusions from the workshops held within the project refer to the fact that the application of ESG Standard 2.4 provides the first step in achieving quality in accordance with European standards and guidelines. Without a commission that is objectively and impartially elected, adequately trained and in which all relevant representatives (academic communities, students, the economy) are included, a high-quality evaluation procedure of institutions and study programs cannot be imagined. Also, one of the SEQA ESG workshops addressed the issue of involvement and participation of all stakeholders as well as methods and criteria for their selection in the management bodies of quality assurance agencies, as well as in evaluation procedures. The site visit of senior representatives of ENQA and European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) to Montenegro was also carried out, and an Action Plan was drawn up.
Micro-credentials related to the key obligations of Bologna (MICROBOL) was Erasmus+ project whose coordinator was the Ministry of Education and Training (Flandria / Belgium). The objective of the project was to establish a common European framework for micro – credentials. Benefits for the quality assurance system refer to the possibility of legal recognition of micro – credentials in the field of higher education for the needs of the labor market. As a result of the project activities, a document with key recommendations in this area “Recommendations based on the MICROBOL project” was created and sent to the European Commission.
Staff Mobility Project (Thematic Bologna Follow-Up Peer Group C on Quality Assurance) in the field of quality assurance of higher education as part of Bologna Follow-Up Group provided financial support for staff exchange among countries of European Higher Education Area. The goal of the project was focused on gaining knowledge and experience in certain areas and topics related to quality assurance. ACQAHE participated in this project through mobility within the Austrian (AQA), Portuguese (A3ES), Croatian (AZVO) and UK (QAA) QA agencies. The topics discussed were related to the improvement of the legal framework, the development of the research component, the development of the information system, the involvement of stakeholders, micro-credentials and other relevant topics related to ESG compliance.
Higher Education and Research for Innovation and Competitiveness (INVO – HERIC) was a World Bank project aimed at strengthening the quality and relevance of higher education and research in Montenegro through the reform of higher education financing and the quality assurance system, as well as through the strengthening of research capacities. Through participation in this project, ACQAHE realized several relevant study visits to the Croatian, Slovenian, Italian and Vatican quality assurance agencies, provided office equipment and organized a Round Table on ESG implementation with leading representatives of ENQA and EQAR.