Municipality Allocations for Free Textbooks in Montenegro

General remarks Request for free access to information sent to 23 municipalities Question was related to amounts that are allocated by municipalities for free textbooks in previous three school years (2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17) Response was submitted by 18 local self- governments, i.e. 16 municipalities, the Capital City and the Royal Capital Response was not submitted by 5 municipalities: Budva, Bijelo Polje, Plav, Ro aje and Gusinje

How much funds have municipalities allocated for free textbooks? Of 18 local self-governments that have submitted their answers, 14 stated that they had costs on the basis of providing free textbooks in all previous three school years, for which CCE asked information In last three years from the budgets of local self- governments EUR 689,679.02has been allocated Thus, 14, 360 sets of books for pupils of different grades in elementary schools in Montenegro were ensured

How much funds have municipalities allocated for free textbooks? Two municipalities did not have costs on this basis - (Andrijevica and Pljevlja); Three municipalities have been allocating funds for free textbooks continuously since 2014/15 - (Berane, Plu ine and Podgorica); Three municipalities have been allocating funds since 2015/16 school year and these are - (Bar, Herceg Novi and Petnjica); Even 10 municipalities that introduced this practice only in this election year (Danilovgrad, abljak, Kola in, Kotor, Mojkovac, Nik i , Tivat, Ulcinj, Cetinje and avnik); have submitted data,

The amount of funds allocated for free textbooks per municipality Andrijevica 0 Bar 48751.7 Berane 252362.57 Cetinje 4999.6 Danilovgrad 8447.6 Herceg Novi 33646 Kola in 3448 Kotor 12542.1 Mojkovac 2025.7 Nik i 33029.5 Petnjica 3562.8 Pljevlja 0 Plu ine 25308.05 Podgorica 239694 Tivat 8835.5 Ulcinj 11474 avnik 302 abljak 1249.9 0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000 300000 Amount of funds allocated for free textbooks

Amount allocated for free textbook per year

OVERVIEW When it comes to total sum for all years, municipality Berane is leading, having a continuity in addressing the issue of free textbooks, including a step forward which this year was made in the part that textbooks were provided not only for first graders but for all elementary school pupils. It is followed by the Capital City of Podgorica. However, the abrupt growth was noted in municipalities of Nik i , Plu ine, Ulcinj, Danilovgrad, Tivat, Cetinje and abljak. Growth of allocated funds is visibly significant when comparing the summary of previous three years, noting that it is 8 out of 23 municipalities for which the CCE has collected data. More specifically, in the last three school years, from the budgets of local self-governments 689,679.02 euros has been allocated, of which the most in 2016 i.e. 444 697.45 euros, significantly less than in 2015 i.e. 188 817.17 euros, and the least in 2014 i.e. 56 094.40 euros. Expressed in percentages, there was increase in the number of municipalities that have adopted this practice, so that out of total number of municipalities, 69,56% of them have allocated funds for 2016 compared to 2015, where the percentage was 26,08%, i.e. in comparison to 2014 whenit was only 13, 04%.

Summary of amount of funds for textbooks 500000 444697.45 450000 400000 350000 300000 250000 188887.17 200000 150000 100000 56094.4 50000 0 Amount of funds allocated for free textbooks per year 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

Number of students who were ensured free textbooks per municipality Andrijevica 0 1147 Bar 4060 Berane Cetinje 116 196 Danilovgrad Herceg Novi 794 Kola in 80 Kotor 291 Mojkovac 47 Nik i 778 Petnjica 84 Pljevlja 0 279 Plu ine Podgorica 6004 205 Tivat Ulcinj 244 avnik 6 abljak 29 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 Number of students who were ensured free textbooks

Conclusions and recommendations CCE is continuously committed to consistent application of the Constitution and laws guaranteeing Montenegro. In this regard, CCE proposes establishment of clear budget lines in local self-governments through which funds for providing free textbooks for primary school students would be allocated every school year, and not to apply this only in election years. Given the number of pupils and amount of funds allocated, a rough estimate leads to calculation that this is the first year in which, according to total sum of allocated resources, approximately 70% of first graders needs is fulfilled at least at the level of the first grade of primary school, while this percentage was multiple times smaller in previous years. CCE welcomes the commitment of those municipalities that have already made efforts to establish this practice in previous years, but at the same time expresses serious doubts that this sudden rise of these examples in an election year is one form of attempt of electoral manipulation. Therefore, CCE will also closely monitor these trends in following years. free primary education in

Thank you for your attention.