Three more schools for bilingual children will open in primary schools in the 2020–2021 school year. As a result, the total number of classes where lessons will be taught in two languages will reach 15.
The bilingual classes project started three years ago at the Mirko Srzentić school in Petrovac, Olga Golović in Petrovac, Luka Simonović school in Nikšić, and Maksim Gorki in Podgorica.
The Institute of Education visited these schools, analyzed the lessons, and also spoke with the school administration and teachers. The commission highly գնահատed the quality of the preparation and the positive impact on children. After that, the project was successfully implemented in four more schools.
This year, the Sutjeska primary school from Podgorica, the Radomir Mitrović school from Berane, and the Stefan Mitrov Ljubiša school from Budva offered bilingual education this year. Classes will be formed depending on the interests of children and parents.
“The main goals of this approach are to form a positive attitude toward learning and to strengthen self-confidence when speaking a foreign language. The goal is also to draw children’s attention to the fact that English is a means of communication, not just a school subject,” explained Majda Mulić, adviser to the Ministry of Education of Montenegro.
In order for teachers to teach, they need to obtain a CLIL certificate. The educators applied to participate in the tender for the 2020–2021 school year, completed training, and are now ready to meet first-graders.
The CLIL course is a basic course for teaching in English. The materials from this course are also used at Cambridge University. The course consists of 20 modules. Each module presents practical strategies for teaching other subjects in English and is designed for 2.5 hours of intensive work.