Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Doc. 9022

10 April 2001

Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Recommendation 1454 (2000)

Reply from the Committee of Ministers

adopted at the 748^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (3 April 2001)

The Committee of Ministers has considered with much attention Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1454 (2000) on education in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Committee of Ministers welcomes the fact that the Parliamentary Assembly has paid particular attention to the developments in the education sector in this country. There now exists a general political awareness of the fact that change in this sector is one of the keys to achieving true democratic stability in the country.

This awareness is in large measure a result of the complementary and co-ordinated work of the Council of Europe through its intergovernmental work programme, which, inter alia, included both bi-lateral and multi-lateral assistance by the Directorate of School, Out of School and Higher Education and through the work of the Parliamentary Assembly. It is also fostered by the joint efforts of our Organisation, those of OHR, UNESCO, EU and the World Bank.

Significant achievements have been made through the work of the National Conference of Education Ministers, co-chaired by the Council of Europe. In addition to the agreements quoted in the Recommendation on removing offensive materials from school textbooks, a comprehensive agreement on educational reform was reached and signed in May 2000. On the basis of a review of some 250 textbooks carried out by international experts, the Ministers agreed on which items or passages in literature, language, history, geography, art and music textbooks should be deleted or temporarily marked as “containing material whose authenticity has not been verified”.

Despite notable successes achieved, there is no margin for complacency.

With regard to history teaching in schools (point 7.iv of the Recommendation), the tendency continues to teach a version of history which is viewed from the single perspective of one ethnic group. Political resistance to the notion of a moratorium on the teaching of recent history remains strong, and the efforts of International Community organisations to develop a new approach to history teaching have so far had little tangible effect.

Although the Council of Europe has held two seminars on history teaching in Bosnia and Herzegovina, little sustained attention to this issue has so far been given by the International Community as a whole. Nevertheless, the Council of Europe will continue to pay a more focused attention to developing good practice in history teaching through Stability Pact programmes in 2001.

As for pilot projects of developing multi-ethnic schools in Brčko and Mostar (point 7.vi of the Recommendation), these have yet to be realized. However in Brčko, at the beginning of the 2000/2001 school year, OHR attempted to move quickly in establishing multi-ethnic schools in the District. This initiative failed to meet its short-term objectives, and instead provoked violent, politically-charged demonstrations which saw 43 school days lost. The school system in the Brčko District currently remains segregated, although one school now has a genuinely multi-ethnic teaching staff and functions well.

In this context, it should also be noted that the Council of Europe is undertaking a major teacher training programme in human rights and citizenship education in Brčko, which has been designed so that over two years the entire teaching population of the district will participate – always in a multi-ethnic learning environment. Four seminars have been held since May 2000, and the programme has been praised by all participants for the quality of its conception and implementation. Such a project could also be envisaged in Mostar, provided that the necessary resources (both human and financial) can be identified.

Also, progress has been made in the higher education sector. A National Higher Education Coordination Board (HECB) was formally established by the Ministers of Education and members of the higher education academic community in June 2000. This Board will work as a permanent, professional, consultative body with advisory capacity in all matters regarding higher education policy. Initial priorities for its work are quality assurance, recognition of diplomas, mobility of students and professors and the development of open and long-distance learning. The Council of Europe, which was the main driving force in setting up the HECB and which is presently chairing the Board, will continue to oversee and facilitate the work of this body in co-operation with UNESCO.

The creation of the Higher Education Coordination Board sends a strong, positive signal that cooperation among members of the academic community is essential for the future of academic life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such cooperation will assist in the primary objective of eliminating any aspects of segregation throughout the higher education system – a condition to be fulfilled before accession to the Council of Europe is possible, and before reintegration within the European academic community is to be fully realised.

The European Commission and the World Bank will work together on parallel programmes to build upon these initiatives for sustainable reform of higher education.

The Council of Europe will continue to provide substantive technical support through the HECB to overcoming problems in a number of areas.

With regard to recognition of qualifications, the establishment at State level and successful functioning of a branch of the joint Council of Europe/UNESCO European Network of National Information Centres on Academic Mobility (ENIC) will be a primary objective, as a means to ensure compliance with the Lisboa Recognition Convention.

The Committee of Ministers will continue its monitoring on a political level to ensure that the conditions for accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Council of Europe regarding education reform are met.

Appendix I

Opinion of the Education Committee on Recommendation 1454 (2000)

of the Parliamentary Assembly on education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

1. The Education Committee welcomes and supports wholeheartedly both the overall spirit of the recommendation as well as its individual points, and congratulates Mr De Puig for the thorough and insightful report upon which this recommendation is based (Doc 8663).

2. Attention which has been given to developments in the education sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Parliamentary Assembly in general, and by its Committee on Culture and Education in particular, has proved to be extremely significant. Indeed a political awareness now exists within the main organisations of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (OHR, UN, UNESCO, EU, OSCE) that change in this sector will be one of the keys to achieving true democratic stability in the country. This awareness is in large measure a result of the complementary and co-ordinated work of the Council of Europe through its intergovernmental work programme (both multi-lateral and bi-lateral assistance undertaken by the Directorate of School, Out of School and Higher Education) and through the work of the Parliamentary Assembly.

3. The positive impact which has been achieved in Bosnia and Herzegovina through synergy between the work of the Parliamentary Assembly and the education programmes implemented within DGIV should be recognised as a model for future co-operation. Similar positive results through carefully-planned action could be anticipated in other parts of South East Europe, as well as in the other priority regions of the Council of Europe.

4. Significant achievements have been made through the work of the National Conference of Education Ministers (co-chaired by the Council of Europe and OHR): in addition to the agreements cited in the recommendation on removing offensive materials from school textbooks, a comprehensive agreement on educational reform was reached and signed by the three Ministers of Education in May 2000.

5. Although the Council of Europe is proving its effectiveness in Bosnia and Herzegovina through upholding European values and standards in education, there is no margin for complacency. Despite notable successes achieved through sustained focus upon encouraging internal co-operation and co-ordination, overall progress has been slow, and the point where segregation and discrimination would be unthinkable within the education system has yet to be reached. At a political level, continued monitoring should therefore be sustained to ensure that the conditions for accession to the Council of Europe regarding education reform are met.

6. Bearing in mind the need to embed the values and principles embodied by the Council of Europe throughout the Bosnian education system, the Education Committee echoes the recommendations made to the Committee of Ministers. Aware of the climate of budgetary restriction, but also bearing in mind the need to intensify supportive action in the education sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina (within the framework of the regional Stability Pact, and more particularly in the field of citizenship education, history teaching and youth coordinated by the Council of Europe) the Education Committee underlines the crucial importance of maintaining human and financial resources for this purpose.

Appendix II

Opinion by the Higher Education and Research Committee on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1454 (2000) on education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Adopted by the CC-HER Bureau on 6 July 2000

The CC-HER takes note of this Recommendation and of the excellent report by Lluis María de Puig (Doc 8663) from which it is inspired.

The focus of the Recommendation upon the problems of ethnic segregation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is entirely legitimate, and fully complements the political and technical work which the Education Directorate has been undertaking since conflict in the country ended.

The recommendation to the Committee of Ministers "to provide the means for the Council of Europe to maintain its decisive role in promoting co-operation in the field of education in Bosnia and Herzegovina" is particularly welcomed, given the problems which have been encountered in funding education activities within South Eastern European countries in 2000.

With regard to higher education, the CC-HER takes note of the excellent summary paragraph regarding the state of higher education in BiH contained within the report by Mr de Puig. It nevertheless regrets that the recommendation omits specific encouragement to the Council of Europe to pursue the development of a national coordination mechanism as a means of fostering rational, systemic development of the higher education sector.

Since the recommendation was adopted, progress in the higher education sector has been made. In particular, a national Higher Education Coordination Board (HECB) was formally established by the Ministers of Education and members of the higher education academic community in June 2000. The HECB will work as a permanent, professional, consultative body with advisory capacity in all matters regarding higher education policy. Initial priorities for its work are quality assurance, recognition of diplomas, mobility of students and professors and the development of open and long distance learning. The Council of Europe will oversee and facilitate the work of the HECB in its initial phase, in co-operation with UNESCO. Other main organisations of the International Community - notably the European Commission and the World Bank - will now implement their programmes of technical assistance through the Higher Education Coordination Board and the substructures to be created.

The Council of Europe will continue to provide substantive technical support through the HECB to overcoming problems in a number of areas. With regard to recognition of qualifications, the establishment and successful functioning of a national ENIC will be a primary objective, as a means to ensure compliance with the Lisboa Recognition Convention. The work achieved within the project on Access to Higher Education in Europe and the accompanying Recommendation R (98) 3 provide a strong framework for European standards to be aspired to in this domain, while the current CC-HER project on Lifelong Learning for Equity and Social Cohesion can also contribute to forward looking reform of the higher education system.

The CC-HER also notes the far-sighted recommendation on distance learning, and will examine its potential to support the development of a national distance learning project in universities of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a tool to overcome ethnic segregation and improve the quality of provision.