Life in Bosnia: How Many “Schools” Can You Fit under One Roof?

Life in Bosnia: How Many “Schools” Can You Fit under One Roof?

This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Herzegovina.

Bosnia-Herzegovina must certainly be the world-champion in fitting several schools under one roof. A common phenomenon in this country is the so-called ‘two schools under one roof’ which means that there are two different ethnic groups enrolling in a different school curriculum in the same building.  One group usually starts early in the morning until noon, and the other begins right after until dinner time.

The gymnasium in Mostar is a good example of this. The school is the home of two different curricula for the Bosnian Croats and the Bosniaks. All three major ethnic groups in Bosnia have their own curricula, with a lot of emphasis on the difference of history, religions, and languages. Everybody will agree that a good educational system is crucial to the long-term development of a country. Bosnia needs it more than most; especially the country is eager to join the EU. The current school system of separation has done nothing but slows down this process and deepens the divisions within the country. On February 10

On February 10^th, young students from all over Bosnia attended a conference in Mostar to discuss the separation of the school curriculum. I participated in this conference even though I personally have no experience with the Bosnian educational system. I acted as a moderator for a group of students of different elasticities who currently study the different curricula. The discussion was an interesting and enriching experience. I’ve learned that the necessary reforms in Bosnia apparently will not happen from a top-down approach. Demanding and putting some pressure on the authorities from below might have a better effect. Even if the desired result is not attainable, it is always useful to discuss existing problems and to make young people more aware of the backwardness of their school system.

All the students agreed that the separated curriculum does not bring anything good for both the students and the country. Lessons and books do not represent issues from different perspectives but from just one perspective of your own ethnicity which praises your ethnicity is the only good one and how you should keep up the traditions and be proud to belong to this ethnicity. Clearly, this shows how segregation is being encouraged inside the classrooms in Bosnia. They love to get more objective information from varied and broad perspectives rather than subjective and one-sided information presented in textbooks.

Facts should be presented as facts, and different interpretations are of course welcomed to develop critical thinking. However, it is of major importance that facts are not twisted to ‘benefits’ one’s own ethnicity. Also, the students have far too many subjects, even up to 25, and they all feel that quantity is often valued over quality. There are also controversial topics such as politics and religion which should not be involved in education. More details can be found in the final declaration made on this special day.

There was an interesting story told by a girl whose brother applied to the University of Sarajevo. In order to get in, he has to do a test, but because the system is corrupted and racist, the majority of the people who get accepted have already known beforehand the test. They prepared for the test, and even when they failed the test, they still got in because the test results are not published, thus no-one knows how the others performed. So even though the brother had one of the best scores for the entrance exam, he did not get into the university. Getting into university is apparently not about your own capacity but about your ethnicity or the money you possess. Another girl in the conference has an older sister who wanted to study Croatian literature at a university in Mostar, but first she had to pass a very biased Croatian history test before she was allowed to start her study.  This test was mainly about the history of religion, of course only of Catholicism. Furthermore, she had to learn about wars and battles in which Croats were involved, always portraying the Croats as either heroes or victims of anther ethnicity. What is the point of all this when you want to study Croatian literature?

During this conference, opinions and wishes of the students are recorded in a declaration which will be presented to the official of the country in the hope of long-overdue reforms and improvements of the educational system.