A representative of the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro attended the presentation of the research entitled “Informal Education and Youth – Guidelines for Improvement”, which took place on 26 September 2019 at the premises of the Youth Center in Podgorica.
This research was conducted by the Union of High School Students with the aim of examining the reasons for the lack of interest of a large number of young people in Montenegro for non-formal education and to define recommendations for improvement in this field. The survey was conducted in six Western Balkan countries.
The survey in Montenegro included 350 high school students from 17 municipalities who completed online questionnaires and also participated in group interviews, as well as 20 representatives of non-governmental organizations, associations, youth clubs and the like.
It is commendable that almost 66 percent of young people are aware of the concept of non-formal education, but as many as one third of young people have never heard of the term.
As far as the importance of participation in non-formal education was concerned, the respondents stated that formal education is not enough in the labor market, and that non-formal education is an opportunity for personal development.
While those who have never participated in any form of non-formal education cite this as a waste of time and distraction from school responsibilities, as well as not sufficiently evaluated by competent institutions. knows about opportunities for non-formal education.
One of the recommendations for improving these issues is better awareness of parents and school workers, which are the most common sources of disapproval of this type of education.
It is necessary to integrate non-formal and informal education as well as to continue the practice of opening youth clubs and creating innovative information platforms.
After presenting the results, the present high school students and members of the NGO sector had the opportunity to comment on the results and present their observations, views and share their experience in this field.