Education

School: one of the major challenges in the return process

Ibro, a 70 year old Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) has just moved back into his village near Nevesinje in eastern Republika Srpska. "He is a real pioneer in this region which is now exclusively Serb" says Tomo Zulim of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Mostar. Soon, Ibro's house will be rebuilt, thanks to EC funding.

Ibro is the first member of his family to go back home and his family will follow in the near future. Everything in his village, Donja Bijenja, has been destroyed, but he is determined to start his life again, beginning with his house. Following Ibro's move, 40 Bosniak families have applied to return to the Nevesinje region as part of an EC-DRC return project.

"The neighbours have not really welcomed him, and life will be difficult. But the major problem preventing his family, and especially his grandchildren, from returning is the lack of proper educational facilities "explains Tomo. "In my view, this is the major challenge now in post-war Bosnia" he says. Is it fair to expect Ibro's grandchildren to go to school in Nevesinje, where they will be taught according to Yugoslav curricula, and learn, for example, that their "homeland Serbia" is rich in natural resources?

Until now, the donor community has focused its attention on the material reconstruction of the education system, as many schools were damaged or destroyed. The necessary educational reforms, which have been ongoing for four to six years in other central and eastern european countries, have been postponed in Bosnia. The specific legacy of the war is the division of the education system along ethnic lines. As a consequence, donors like the European Commission were reluctant to support the development of new curricula and textbooks as they would appear to reinforce ethnic separation in the schools.

For example, Bosnian Croats use books from Croatia, with their pupils still learning that Zagreb is their capital. Bosnian Serbs use textbooks from Yugoslavia. The textbooks treat the region's volatile recent past differently.

Moderate approaches

Education has become one of the most politicised issues of the contemporary Bosnian society. The growing apart of teaching systems jeopardises mobility between the different systems, and undermines the establishment of a shared notion of a Bosnia-Herzegovinian education, which would take into account the values of all the cultures in BiH. The introduction of moderate approaches meets heavy resistance at political level because of the nationalistic agenda of the three ruling groups. As young pupils do not have the experience of pre-war BiH, they bear an even bigger potential for easy national indoctrination. In a very encouraging move, on August 20, 1999 officials of the Bosnian Ministry of Education of the two Entities reached a long-delayed agreement to remove potentially inflammatory language in school text books. Moslem, Croat and Serb experts spent 18 months reviewing textbooks to identify relevant material considered offensive by any of the three ethnic groups. The agreement covers the so-called "national" subjects: languages, literature, history, geography and the art.

From the European Commission's point of view, time has come now to shift from physical reconstruction to in-depth policy reforms in the Bosnian education system. This is extremely difficult due to the impossibility to establish a national strategy in education (separate education ministries for the Federation and the RS, responsibility for education at 11 federal Canton level). The attempt of the European Commission in this regard is to try to put as many key local and international partners together as possible and have them decide on essential and easily conceivable orientations. A tangible success with the same approach was reached with the VET project (see article in " Europe for BiH" n°7) aimed at reforming technical schools in BiH. A real inter-Entity co-operation has been developed via the creation of a working group of 40 key actors and different partnerships with EU schools. The European Commission would like to build on this experience to help setting up a broader "Education Council" in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which would cover primary, secondary and technical schools, and through which the two Entities would elaborate a common approach towards reforms of the school system.

Apart from support to education reform at the "policy" level, the European Commission will support the development of new curricula and textbooks that contribute to build a shared notion of belonging to the same country. One option which is being looked at is the elaboration of a core content common to all pupils of BiH, with a certain percentage of the content ­not exceeding 30%- applied and adapted to the needs of each ethnic group. Modular textbooks could thus provide the solution. The European Commission will dedicate 2 million EURO from its 1999 budget in support to the Bosnian education sector. Teacher training will also be part of the package, as well as the introduction of a systematic European dimension in the education system. This can be concretely achieved by starting European pilot classes, with some courses taught in EU languages (EURO .g. history or geography), by funding 6 to 9 months scholarships for Bosnian pupils to attend EU high schools, and by creating a European International high school in Sarajevo. In addition to the 2 million EURO for primary, secondary and technical schools, the European Commission also runs the TEMPUS programme (3 million EURO for 1999) which focuses on higher education (collaboration between BiH and EU universities, grants for students and professors, etc.).

The EC 1999 return programme

Minority return still a top priority

The European Commission confirms its commitment to achieving a breakthrough in minority return in Bosnia and Herzegovina throughout 1999 and 2000. Twenty-seven NGO projects will be funded ­ as of September 1999 the contracts have not been signed yet- along the major return axis as identified by the OHR-led Reconstruction and Return Task Force. House reconstruction projects will go hand in hand with job creation and social activities to the benefit of the host communities as well as the returning families, to make return sustainable. The EC will also continue to provide credit facilities for house reconstruction and small businesses, and support mine clearance in critical areas for return. This integrated return programme is worth 69 million EURO .

The return projects are concentrated in 5 regions to maximise the impact: Northwest Bosnia and Posavina (1,004 beneficiary families), the Doboj-Tuzla area (641 families), Central Bosnia (516 families), the Sarajevo region (467 families) and the Southern region (123 families). Ten out of these 27 NGO projects (listed below) focus on the Northwest where return movements are amplifying. For example: 229 additional Bosniak families have applied to return to the Prijedor area, confirming the opening up of this area which is of utmost importance. Serb return to Drvar continues with 125 Serb families under this return scheme, and 80 Croat families will move back to the Banja Luka region. Croats from Drvar will return to Vares and Kakanj (131 families concerned), and 25 Bosniak families will go back to Pale. The symbolic Santica street in Mostar will be rebuilt, with 30 families from the three communities moving back.

In total, 2,751 families will have their house rebuilt and will be able to move back, thus freeing up the houses they were occupying to allow "secondary" returns. This means that once the reconstruction has been carried out the figure can be potentially doubled. Particular emphasis is given to returns to Republika Srpska under the 1999 programme. In addition, 15 million euro in the EC budget for Croatia have been earmarked for the return of Serbs currently living in the RS, to Croatia.

Apart from house reconstruction, all the listed projects also include job creation and social activities as well as restoration of basic infrastructures like water and electricity.

Contracts between the EC and the NGOs have not yet been signed as of September 1999.

Indicative list of NGO projects selected for funding under the EC 1999 return programme (for a total of 44 million EURO)

Northwest/Posavina
Municipality	Organisation	No of beneficiary families
Petrovac	World Vision UK	45
Prijedor	Dorcas + THW	229
Sanski	Most Dorcas	60
Grahovo	World Vision UK	100
Bosanski Novi	Care Germany + Dorcas	150
Bosanska Krupa	Care Germany	80
Drvar	CESVI	125
Banja Luka	World Vision UK	80
Prnjavor	World Vision UK	85
Glamoc	CESVI	50
		Total 1004
Doboj/Tuzla
Municipality	Organisation	No of beneficiary families
Doboj	World Vision UK	178
Bijeljina	EG Tuzla	92
Osmaci/Kalesija/Sekovici	InterSOS	130
Derventa	World Vision UK + HW Austria	241
		Total 641
Central Bosnia
Municipality	Organisation	No of beneficiary families
Vares	CESVI	40
Kakanj	CESVI + WV Germany	91
Bugojno	World Vision Germany + IRC	245
Travnik	PIU Housing	140
		Total 516
Sarajevo region
Municipality	Organisation	No of beneficiary families
Ilijas	Hilfswerk Austria	120
Sokolac	Hilfswerk Austria	80
Sarajevo	Hilfswerk Austria + DRC	170
Han Pijesak	Danish Refugee Council (DRC)	35
Olovo	DRC	37
Pale	DRC	25
		Total 467
Southern region
Municipality	Organisation	No of beneficiary families
Mostar	Danish Refugee Council	30
Nevesinje	Danish Refugee Council	40
Berkovici	Danish Refugee Council	53
		Total 123

Total beneficiary families: 2751

Making return possible

Do return projects work?

A special issue of "Zavicaj" on EC-funded return projects

What have the numerous return projects funded by the European Commission and implemented by NGOs actually achieved? Do people really take advantage of these so-called "integrated" projects to return to their homes? What do the families that have benefited from the schemes think of the support they receive from the European taxpayer?

Earlier this year, 16 Bosnian journalists travelled around BiH in a bid to find the answers to these questions. The results of their investigations have just been published in a special edition of Bosnia's "Zavicaj" magazine entitled "Making Return Possible". The publication is the result of a project run by Zavicaj's editors in Banja Luka and students from the Mediaplan journalism school in Sarajevo. The 16 journalists visited 22 sites all over Bosnia where NGOs are carrying out European Commission-backed reconstruction and job creation activities designed to encourage families to return home. They interviewed NGO personnel, local government officials and beneficiary families in order to get a clear picture of the situation in the different villages and towns where return projects are underway. The magazine has been written for potential returnees and aims to give as much practical information as possible ­including useful names and telephone numbers- on return projects being carried out across BiH.

This special 32-page issue has been printed in separate Bosnian and English versions. The Bosnian version will be posted to Bosnian refugees currently living in EU member States using information contained in a database managed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). In Bosnia it will be distributed through the usual Zavicaj channels and through NGOs.

For more information, or to receive the special issue of ZAVICAJ "Making Return Possible" (English or Bosnian version), please fax to +32 2 649 18 85, or e-mail to info@stratcom.be or fax to Zora Stanic at +387 71 666 037

Europe for BiH
Quarterly newsletters published by the European Commission on its actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina
No 8, October 1999

page 1 | page 2 | page 3 | page 4