A grant of up to €2.9 million will be provided to the government of Montenegro by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the bank of the European Union, to accelerate the modernisation of the national education system. It will be used for the upgrade, construction and reconstruction of pre-school, school and vocational school infrastructure in the country and will cover technical and advisory support for project preparation and the public procurement process, and for developing national monitoring and evaluation standards. It will accelerate upgrades that are expected to create an additional 2,070 school places across Montenegro, and 530 new full-time jobs.

The operation supports the ongoing modernisation of the national education system as part of the €18 million Montenegrin education programme, which the EIB agreed with Montenegro in 2019. The programme finances the procurement of modern equipment and the construction and renovation of public education infrastructure, including kindergartens, primary, secondary and vocational schools, as well as the provision of information and communications technology (ICT) equipment and school furniture. The grant stems from the Economic Resilience Initiative, which aims to support economic growth, job creation, social cohesion and the development of vital infrastructure projects in the Western Balkans.