Razprave in gradivo, Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
Mirko Djuranovié UDC 376.744(497.16=919.83) 
Republican Institute for the 
Advancement of Education 
SR Montenegro 
Titograd, Yugoslavia 
THE DEVELOPMENT AND RESULTS OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE OF THE 
ALBANIAN ETHNIC GROUP IN THE SR OF MONTENEGRO* 
The developmet of education in the Albanian ethnic group in 
Montenegro started with the establishment of the state elementary 
schools in bicultural environments (Ulcinj) in the last decades 
of the past century. In the Principality of Montenegro children 
of all ethnic groups and religions were equally entitled to 
education as the children of the Montenegrin nationality.“ Small 
in area and in economic power, Montenegro, following the 
liberation wars of 1876 to 1878, through great renunciations and 
efforts, started setting foundations for an organized education 
in ordinary schools. The teaching was conducted in the Serbo- 
Croatian language for all the pupils, representing - in addition 
to other causes, viz. the economic and cultural backwardness of 
the region and religious prejudices - a great obstacle to mass 
education of the children belonging to the Albanian ethnic group. 
In the period between the First and Second World Wars, within the 
Kingdom of Yugoslavia members of all the nationalities and ethnic 
groups were entitled to education, but the teaching for all was 
conducted in the Serbo-Croatian language. 
The schooling in the non-mother tongue placed the pupils 
belonging to ethnic groups on the footing of inequality in 
relation to the pupils whose mother tongue was Serbo-Croatian. On 
account of the fact that teaching was conducted in a non-mother 
tongue, a great number of the children of the Albanian ethnic 
group did not attend even the four-year compulsory elementary 
school, and very few children and youngsters attended the 
secondary schools and studied at junior colleges and 
universities. Thus, at the end of the Second World War, in the 
year 1945, the illiteracy rate among members of the Albanian 
ethnic group in SR Montenegro was as high as 95 per cent). 
The first elementary schools teaching either in the Albanian 
language or bilingually within the bicultural environments in SR 
Montenegro were established immediately after the Second World 
War in the wake of the victory of the socialist revolution, 
whereas the first such secondary school was launched only in the 
year 1965. In this area there were no secondary schools teaching 
in the Serbo-Croatian language either. The inauguration of the 
schools teaching in Albanian as the mother tongue was a 
significant realization of the aims and achievements of the 
national liberation struggle - of the brotherhood and unity and 
equality of rights of the peoples and nationalities. From the 
year 1945 on, there has been a continuous dynamic development of 
  
* Original: Serbo-Croatian 
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Razprave in gradivo, Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
education and culture of the Albanian ethnic group in SR 
Montenegro, conducted in its mother tongue. At first, the 
education and schoolwork at schoools with Albanian as the 
language of instruction and at bilingual schools, went on under 
very unfavourable material and staffing conditions, neither were 
the conditions more favourable at schools teaching in the Serbo- 
Croatian language, owing to the consequences of the War. 
Many difficulties arising from the organizing of education and 
schoolwork in the schools teaching either bilingually or in the 
Albanian language, were overcome through hard work and enthusiasm 
of the few education staffs and through special efforts made by 
the society to create the indispensable foundations of work. New 
school buildings were built also according to pedagogical 
requirements and equipped with up-to-date teaching aids. All the 
schools, including the four-grade primary schools in the 
villages, now have their school libraries consisting of books in 
the Albanian language, in conformity with the standards of school 
libraries in SR Montenegro. 
The network of pre-school and school institutions with bilingual 
teaching and with the teaching in Albanian has developed 
‘considerably. In the five communes populated by the members of 
the Albanian ethnic group there are four pre-school institutions 
with about 200 children of the Albanian ethnic group, eleven 
eight-year elementary schools consisting of 42 subsidiary 
divisions in the village areas, attended by about 5,000 pupils, 
and three secondary-school centres with 1,143 pupils. The 
subsidiary divisions in the village areas offer four-year 
instruction, the upper grades of the elementary school being 
available at the main school. In the four most attended eight- 
year elementary schools located in the communal and village 
centres, the teaching is, on account of the mixed population, 
conducted in the Serbo-Croatian and Albanian languages. The same 
is true of all the three school centres. In the subsidiary 
divisions of the elementary school in the village areas, the 
teaching is carried out only in the Albanian language; the pupils 
in these schools do learn Serbo-Croatian as a compulsory subject. 
In SR Montenegro, there are no junior colleges, colleges or 
universities teaching in the Albanian language, as there hardly 
exist favourable material or staffing conditions, nor the 
necessary number of students. Students from the Albanian ethnic 
group choose various professions and can be found studying at all 
the universities in the country, but mostly at the University of 
Pristina where the teaching is in the Albanian language. 
Junior colleges and universities have an enrollment of more than 
500 students of the Albanian ethnic group. Most of these students 
have received scholarships or student loans. Most of them study 
at the teacher-training faculties: philological, faculty of 
sciences and mathematics, and arts, followed by the faculties of 
law, of economics, medicine, agriculture and technology. A number 
of these students study at the University of Titograd. they are 
more favourably treated regarding the enrollment and 
accommodation in the halls of residence than are the students of 
Montenegrin and other nationalities. 
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The organization of the educational work at schools teaching 
either in the Albanian language or bilingually was for the first 
time legally regulated under the Act on the organization of the 
schools teaching in the language of an ethnic minority ig the 
People's Republic of Montenegro, passed in the year 1960,” and 
based upon the General Schools Act.” Under this Act it was laid 
down that the schools and their divisions where the teaching is 
conducted in the language of a national minority form part of the 
uniform education system in SR Montenegro and in the SPRY, and 
that these institutions implement the common and special aims of 
educating and schooling. Under this Act the teaching of the 
pupils belonging to the Albanian ethnic group was carried out in 
their mother tongue, yet the pupils were obliged to learn the 
Serbo-Croatian language as a special subject of instruction in 
the elementary and secondary schools, starting from the third 
grade of the elementary school "for the purpose of an active 
participation of the members of the ethnic minority in the life 
of the SFRY and of the PR of Montenegro." In this Act the 
emphasis is laid upon the role played by the educational work 
through extracurricular activities "giving incentive to, and 
developing, the approaching and mutual acqyaintance of the pupils 
of various nationalities or ethnic groups. 
The pedagogical documentation in bilingual schools as well as in 
those where the teaching is conducted in Albanian, is issued in 
the mother tongue, and only the main official book and school 
documents are kept in both languages. The new Act regulating the 
elementary and specialized training at the secondary level” has 
retained all the main provisions of the special Act on the 
schools for the members of the national minorities. 
At the elementary and secondary schools education is carried out 
according to the uniform curriculum and educational programme for 
all the pupils, excepting the mother tongue and literature which 
additionally contain, for the pupils of the Albanian ethnic 
group, specific contents from the national literature. The 
history programme is uniform for all the pupils in the Republic, 
so that it includes also the contents specific to the Albanian 
ethnic group. In the elementary school, since the school year 
1984/85, the new educational programme yith the built-in common 
educational-instructional core courses has been implemented; 
these core courses are included in the educational programmes of 
most of the Republics and of the Socialist Autonomous Province of 
Vojvodina. The new curricula and educational programmes, with the 
built-in core courses, secure, more so than up to the present, 
Mutual acquaintance of the cultures and achievements in all the 
spheres of the nations and ethnic groups of Yugoslavia. The new 
curricula and educational programmes for the Serbo-Croatian 
language and literature and for the Albanian language and 
literature represent a considerable progress in relation to the 
preceding ones as there is, in the programme for the Albanian 
language and literature, much more content from the literature of 
the Yugoslav peoples and ethnic groups, while in the programme 
for the Serbo-Croatian language and literature, the Albanian 
literature is represented more fully. The implementation as to 
quality of these programmes will considerably contribute to a 
better knowledge of the national literatures and cultures of the 
peoples and ethnic groups, and facilitate and improve mutual 
understanding and respect. 
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Razprave in gradivo, Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
For a successful performance of the curricula and of the 
educational programmes, a professional and pedagogically and 
methodically qualified teaching staff is urgently needed. 
Immediately after the War there was no professional staff for 
teaching the Albanian language, and special efforts were made to 
educate, as soon as possible, teachers for the needs of the 
elementary and secondary specialized education at schools with 
the teaching in the Albanian language and at schools teaching 
bilingually. The teachers compensated for their insufficient 
qualifications and pedagogical unpreparedness by their assiduous 
work in school and through their in-service professional and 
pedagogical training. There were organized courses and seminars 
to qualify them for the teaching profession. A considerable 
number of the persons having completed elementary school were 
directed towards the teaching profession by being granted 
schyolarships and student loans. Most of them were trained at the 
teaching-training schools and at the faculties in SAP Kosovo. 
This situation has gradually improved, so that at present, the 
instruction at elementary schools with teaching in the Albanian 
language and at bilingual schools is completely professional. At 
the secondary schools, however, there is still a lack of teachers 
of mathematics and specialized subjects of instruction. 
The number of educational workers of the Albanian ethnic group 
has considerably increased, so that at present there are 140 
teachers working at the elementary schools, 116 of whom have two- 
year post-secondary education and 22 have university education. 
In the developed environments, the schools are fully provided 
with teaching staff, and now a considerable number of students 
are being trained for teachers, too. At present there are 69 
teachers with university education, 14 teachers with two-year 
post-secondary education, and 3 students who have complete course 
requirements working at the three school centres of specialized 
education. 
For a successful fulfillment of the instructional-educational 
tasks and better quality of teaching, there are very important, 
in addition to material conditions and teaching staff, also 
textbooks and textbook literature. The schools with the Albanian 
as the language of instruction have so far used mainly textbooks 
published in SAP Kosovo and textbooks written in the Serbo- 
Croatian language. In recent years, the Republican Board of 
Education - its BOAL for the publishing of textbooks and textbook 
literature has started publishing textbooks - manuals and readers 
in the Albanian language. Over 30 titles ahve been printed: a 
primer, readers for all the grades of the elementary and 
secondary specialized-education schools, and some home readers. 
The publication of new textbooks and readers has been planned. 
The question of textbooks and textbook literature was, and still 
is, a very urgent problem, in particular because new educational 
programmes are being introduced. So far, there has also existed a 
discrepancy between the curricula and educational programmes 
adopted in SR Montenegro and the textbooks and manuals prepared 
according to the curricular and educational programmes of SAP 
Kosovo. On account of the small number of copies printed, ti will 
not be possible to publish textbooks for the mathematics and 
sciences group of subjects nor for specialized subjects of 
instruction; thus, the textbooks from SAP Kosovo and SR Macedonia 
will be used. 
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Razprave in gradivo, Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
Through joint efforts of the Society and of th 
educational organizations in the pi 
considerable results have been achie 
enrollment of children and youngsters of “te jpospect to the 
group and the realization of the equality of site eue ethnic 
education as a whole. The practice and results have as eee in 
that the organization of the instructional] and not ee 
and the quality of teaching at these schools are esnatancle 
increasing, thus contributing a lot also to the im rovem ntly 
the educational-pedagogical service phovement:.of 
ti 8 within the Repub 
regions giving an all-round professional 
of the acbae locenéede 
with bilingual teaching, the pupils belonging to the Albanian 
ethnic group are able to choose among 22 vocations. It is true 
nevertheless, that the number of specializations at schools with 
the Serbo-Croatian as the medium of instruction is considerably 
larger, so that a number of pupils of the Albanian ethnic group 
continue their schooling in the schools with Serbo-Croatian as 
the language of instruction, or in SAP Kosovo, 
e instructional- 
Cultural environments, 
It is characteristic that the interest of the parents and pupils 
of the Albanian ethnic group in a more thorough learning of the 
Serbo-Croatian language has been very much increased. In some 
environments the parents require to increase the number of the 
lessons of the Serbo-Croatian language, beyond the legally 
prescribed norm, for the purposes of enabling the children to 
master the Serbo-Croatian language as perfectly as possible, 
thereby enabling them to be undisturbedly employed at all places 
in Yugoslavia. At the individual elementary schools (the eight- 
year school Ostros) the number of lessons for learning the Serbo- 
Croatian language have been increased. In the same way there has 
been an also an increased interest to learn the Albanian language 
in the mixed environments (Ulcinj), where 161 pupils of the 
Montengrin and Muslim nationality learn the Albanian language. It 
is evident that the interest in a greater mutual acquaintance and 
the knowledge of the cultures has been increased, At the school 
centre of Ulcinj, the pupils publish a paper written in the 
Serbo-Croatian and Albanian languages, being given the 
Opportunity for a better acquaintance with the non-mother tongue. 
Very sound and rewarding is the co-operation of both teachers and 
pupils within the framework of professional bodies - teachers' 
councils, class boards, professional active groups, as well as 
within self-management bodies, school councils, and pupils’ 
communities. In the pupils' organizations and associations there 
co-operate the pupils belonging to both the Albanian ethnic group 
and the Montenegrin nationality. 
Parallel with the economic growth and social development and the 
raising of the educational level of the members of the Albanian 
ethnic group, a significant cultural activity has developed as 
well. The cultural climate in bicultural environments has changed 
through the existence and activity of a large number of 
educational workers and experts in various fields - physicians, 
engineers, economists, lawyers, as well as secondary-school and 
university students of the Albanian ethnic group. In the communal 
centres, libraries, bookshops, and cinemas have been opened. The 
libraries stock numerous books written in the Albanian language. 
Booksellers have their prominent selling points in the town 
centres. Books have become accessible to lots of users, including 
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Razprave in gradivo, Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
the citizens belonging to the Albanian ethnic group. School 
libraries have enviable stocks of books exceeding 40,000 books 
written in the Albanian language, meeting the needs of both the 
teachers and the pupils. , 
The publishing actitity in the Albanian language has been 
started. Besides the Republic Institute for the Promotion of 
Education and Instruction, and the publication of textbooks, 
manuals and school readers, the publishing house Pobjeda issues 
books written in the Albanian language. Admittedly, so far their 
number has not been impressive, but a number of new publication 
have been planned. At present, there is in Montenegro an 
insufficient number of qualified translators covering the Serbo- 
Croatian and Albanian languages; therefore, collaboration with 
the translators from the SAP Kosovo has been established. 
There is also Koha, the review for literature, science, culture 
and social problems. Published since the year 1978, it is a bi- 
monthly review publishing works of the Albanian writers from 
Montenegro (there are eight) and from elsewhere, as well as 
translations from the Yugoslav and world literatures. 
The publishing house Pobjeda and the Republic Institute for the 
Promotion of Education and Instruction employ a number of editors 
who belong to the Albanian ethnic group. 
Significant creations have been achieved also in the visual arts. 
The artists of Albanian nationality organize individual and group 
exhibitions, among them those who have won the greatest 
recognition - the prestigious Thirteenth July and the October 
Awards. The cultural activity in both the bicultural environments 
and those where they live only the members of the Albanian ethnic 
group, is performed within the framework of the amateur cultural- 
artistic societies, existing in all the local centres and 
villages. Educational workers, students and pupils are in the 
vanguard of these cultural activities. Most attention is paid to 
folklore and folk songs. The amateur cultural-artistic societies 
take part in revues and guest performances within the Republic 
and throughout Yugoslavia; some of them have been on tours 
abroad, too (the U.S.A.). 
The Montenegrin Academy of Sciences has started research in the 
field of the language and literture of the Albanian ethnic group, 
as well,as the interaction with the Serbo-Croatian language and 
literature. 
Members of the Albanian ethnic group are also working in and 
collaborating with a number of cultural and scientific 
institutions in SR Montenegro: the Institute of History, the 
Montenegrin People's Theatre, "Veljko Vlahovié" University, etc. 
Distinguished educational workers of the Albanian ethnic 
background work as educational advisers and editors at the 
Republic Institute for the Promotion of Education and Instruction 
and at the Inter-Communal Institutes. 
Within the information services there are employed a number of 
journalists who are members of the Albanian ethnic group. The 
Titograd Radio Station daily broadcasts two transmissions in the 
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Razprave in gradivo, Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
Albanian language and the weekly paper Titogradska Tribuna (The 
Titograd Tribune), published at Titograd, has a regular page in 
the Albanian language. 
The postwar development and the results obtained in education and 
culture of the Albanian ethnic group in Montenegro so far present 
an obvious confirmation of the materialization of the goals of 
the socialist revolution and of its basic principles: brotherhood 
and unity and the equality of rights of the peoples and ethnic 
groups. The results obtained and the experiences gained in the 
work done so far are even greater in the light of the fact that 
they have been realized within a relatively short time and 
achieved in an environment which initially had a very low 
economic basis and a low level of cultural life. By now, the 
mixed social environments (inhabited by the members of the 
Albanian ethnic group and by the Montenegrin and Muslim 
nationalities) have already reached, in terms of the network of 
school institutions and the conditions of life, the level 
attained by the other environments in Montenegro. The general 
progress made in all the spheres of social and cultural life and 
its rapid growth are obvious, and all this contributes to the 
development: of brotherhood and unity, and to a better 
understanding and collaboration of the members of the Albanian 
ethnic group with the members of the nations living in 
Montenegro. 
Notes 
1. Rade Delibasié, 1980, Razvoj &kolske i pedago&ke misli u Crnoj 
Gori: 1830 do 1918 (The Development of the School and Pedagogic 
Thought in Montenegro: 1830-1918), Republic Board on the 
Promotion of Education, Titograd. 
2. For information about the schools using Albanian as the 
language of instruction in SR Montenegro and about the textbooks 
used in these schools, see: the Republic Secretariat for 
Education, Culture and Science, Titograd, 1981. 
3. The Act on the organization of the schools teaching in the 
language of an ethnic minority, see: The Official Gazette of the 
PRM, No. 22/60. 
4. The General Schools Act, see: The Official Gazette of SFRY, 
No. 28/58. 
5. Ibid. 
6. The Act on Elementary Education and the Act on Secondary 
Specialized Education in SR Montenegro, see: The Official Gazette 
of SRM, No. 22/83. 
7. The common programme core courses contain the contents from 
all the subjects of instruction for the elementary and secondary 
school that should be, or are, built in the educational 
programmes of the Republics and Provinces; they represent from 50 
per cent (mother tongue) up to 100 per cent (total national 
defence and social self-protection) of the programme content. 
233