Investing in the future: BiH education reform
(This feature is based on an article in the May 2004 issue of the OSCE Magazine.)
Because politics has dominated the education scene in BiH, the quality and standards of education have suffered. Curricula and textbooks differ from region to region, depending primarily on ethnicity. Teachers were not trained in up-to-date teaching methods. Fresh graduates are not equipped with the skills to tackle real-world challenges.
Building a secure foundation
The Mission's first step was to galvanize local education experts, BiH authorities and international community partners. Working together, international experts and hundreds of committed BiH citizens produced an Education Reform Strategy.
Reform focused on ensuring a common standard for all students across BiH. Legislation and curriculum began to be developed so that a Croat or Bosniac student from the city of Mostar in Herzegovina could transfer to a school in the Republika Srpska, or vice versa, confident the student would find an inclusive education environment.
By the start of the 2003/04 school year, a State-level Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education had been unanimously adopted by the BiH Parliament. A Common Core Curriculum had been introduced, enabling students across BiH to share a significant number of unified features in all subjects.
"In BiH, politicians and the media often focus on differences and encourage parents, teachers and students to do the same," says Lars-Ake Stahl, Director of the OSCE Mission's Education Department. "The process of reform, especially the development of the Common Core Curriculum, has proved that there is a lot that can be agreed on while respecting cultural differences."
Access for all
Even as staff members in the Mission's Sarajevo Head Office were pushing for BiH-wide policy reform, some 25 staff members in the field were meeting regularly with school directors, parents, teachers and local authorities to implement reform in individual schools.
Armed with an Interim Agreement on Returnee Children, education officers gave to local communities and authorities a thorough briefing on the right of children to attend schools in the area they were returning to. By guaranteeing returnee children's access to their own "national" group of subjects in schools, the Agreement has significantly raised the number of returnee enrolments throughout the country.
Mission-led task forces and individual consultations with school authorities are also increasing awareness of the needs of Roma, national minorities, children with special needs and other marginalized groups.
Quality education: that's us
Now that a strong foundation has been laid for all children to have access to schools, the focus has shifted towards ensuring that schools are able to provide modern, quality education. While there is still much to be done at the policy level, numerous schools are pursuing local solutions. The Mission focuses on how individual students, parents and teachers can make a difference.
With the production of the educational video "Odlican 5" ("Excellent A") and a series of TV spots entitled "Quality Education: That's Us", the Mission regularly highlights schools at the forefront of reform. Local and national television and radio stations have broadcast the show more than a hundred times.
Through Mission-sponsored roundtables, town hall meetings and trainings, students have learned how to run student councils, parents have learned how to get involved in their childrens' school and teachers have learned about opportunities for professional development.
"I believe that the OSCE's co-operation with our Parent School Councils and with non-governmental organizations helps us to better understand our needs and issues," says Amila Rugjanac, an active member in the Bugojno Gymnasium Parent Student Council. "Our aims are a good match with what the OSCE is doing: improving education and civil society. I now better understand how to make step-by-step changes in my school and society."
And that's exactly what BiH needs: young people ready to stay and make changes to improve their society.