OSCE Mission hails Bosnia and Herzegovina's new common core curriculum
(OSCE)The OSCE Mission to BiH is playing a co-ordination role in preparing the education reform agenda that was presented to the Peace Implementation Council in Brussels, 21 November 2002. (OSCE) Photo details
SARAJEVO, 8 August 2003 - The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina warmly welcomed today's adoption of an agreement on a country wide common core curriculum, calling it a further step towards the reform of the country's education system.
"The signing of the agreement today is a very important milestone in education reform," said Ambassador Robert M. Beecroft, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH. "Setting out a common core curriculum will provide increased access and mobility for all students in schools across BiH. It offers a solid foundation for the further modernization of this country's education system."
The new reform introduces a framework within which all students in BiH will be taught and which will be incorporated into the curricula of all entities and cantons.
The agreement, signed today in Sarajevo by Entity and Cantonal Ministers of Education, was developed by a steering board and subject-specific working groups, based on the common elements of the existing curricula.
Commitment to a common core curriculum is an integral part of the Education Reform Strategy endorsed by the Peace Implementation Council last November in Brussels, as well as in the new state-level Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education.
"We commend the authorities of BiH and the education experts who have worked tirelessly to develop this Common Core Curriculum," said Ambassador Werner Wendt, Senior Deputy High Representative. "This is an important beginning. Now we need to make sure it is implemented in schools in the coming academic year."
Dr Sonja Moser-Starrach, Special Representative for BiH of the Council of Europe Secretary-General, added: "The purpose of the Common Core Curriculum is to ensure that every child in this country has access to quality education across BiH - education that is free from political, religious, cultural and other bias. In other words, an education that meets modern European standards."
Pedagogical institutes are now working to incorporate the reform into curricula sent to all teachers prior to the start of the school year. When students across BiH return to schools in September, they will be learning the same common elements throughout the country.
To read the agreement and implementation plan for Common Core Curriculum, please visit the OSCE Mission website: www.oscebih.org.
"The signing of the agreement today is a very important milestone in education reform," said Ambassador Robert M. Beecroft, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH. "Setting out a common core curriculum will provide increased access and mobility for all students in schools across BiH. It offers a solid foundation for the further modernization of this country's education system."
The new reform introduces a framework within which all students in BiH will be taught and which will be incorporated into the curricula of all entities and cantons.
The agreement, signed today in Sarajevo by Entity and Cantonal Ministers of Education, was developed by a steering board and subject-specific working groups, based on the common elements of the existing curricula.
Commitment to a common core curriculum is an integral part of the Education Reform Strategy endorsed by the Peace Implementation Council last November in Brussels, as well as in the new state-level Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education.
"We commend the authorities of BiH and the education experts who have worked tirelessly to develop this Common Core Curriculum," said Ambassador Werner Wendt, Senior Deputy High Representative. "This is an important beginning. Now we need to make sure it is implemented in schools in the coming academic year."
Dr Sonja Moser-Starrach, Special Representative for BiH of the Council of Europe Secretary-General, added: "The purpose of the Common Core Curriculum is to ensure that every child in this country has access to quality education across BiH - education that is free from political, religious, cultural and other bias. In other words, an education that meets modern European standards."
Pedagogical institutes are now working to incorporate the reform into curricula sent to all teachers prior to the start of the school year. When students across BiH return to schools in September, they will be learning the same common elements throughout the country.
To read the agreement and implementation plan for Common Core Curriculum, please visit the OSCE Mission website: www.oscebih.org.