Educational policy is determined by the federal government and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Montenegro, with significant input from international partners, such as the European Union and several national governments and nongovernmental organizations who have provided financial and technical support for education reforms.

Key educational reforms at the turn of the millennium included efforts to improve vocational education and training in Montenegro and to upgrade the curriculum at various educational levels.

Compulsory education in Montenegro includes the 8 grades of primary school, attended by students typically aged 7 through 14.

Serbian is the official language of instruction in Montenegrin schools, almost all of which are public.

In some areas, Albanian is also offered as a language of instruction at the elementary and secondary levels.

About 95.8 percent of primary students in Montenegro were taught in Serbian in the year 2000, while 4.2 percent of primary students were taught in Albanian.

At the secondary level, 97.6 percent of students were taught in Serbian, and 2.4 percent were taught in Albanian. The official language of instruction at the university level was Serbian.