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Re: Harmony a Long Way Off in Bosnia's Disunited Schools

18 10 2006  Dear Editor, I am writing in regard to the article entitled “Harmony a Long Way Off in Bosnia’s Disunited Schools. Existence of Virtual Apartheid in School System Poses Questions Over Very Survival of the Country” by Mr. Predrag Popovic, which appeared in Balkan Insight on 13 October 2006. The article contains some factual inaccuracies and some mischaracterisations of the statements made to Mr. Popovic by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Director of Education, Mr. Claude Kieffer.

I think your readers would benefit from the following corrections:

1. Mr. Kieffer is quoted wrongly as saying that the Catholic Church was to blame for blocking reform. In fact, he was making a point about one specific part of the current curriculum. He pointed out all ministers of education in the country had agreed to introduce a new course called “Culture of Religions,” but that the Catholic Church then decided that it could not agree to this.

2. The article claims that the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina carried out a survey that found that 60 per cent of poor households come from uneducated families. This Mission has never conducted such research.

3. In quoting Mr. Kieffer, your journalist confused two issues—the Law on Higher Education, which the State Parliament has so far failed to adopt, with the Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education, which the State Parliament enacted unanimously into law (with but one abstention) three years ago. In spite of this, as Mr. Kieffer notes, the country’s primary and secondary school systems are essentially still divided in three.

4. Mr. Kieffer did not blame the Office of the High Representative for anything. Instead, he observed that, even where the OHR had imposed primary and secondary education legislation, which he had done in two Cantons, the local authorities had largely chosen to ignore that legislation.

5. Mr. Kieffer is quoted as saying: “Division among the young people is greater than it was in 1992, since there is no system which would unite them. They do not know each other and they have been taught three histories, read other books. There is a very small level of unification and how can a state become sustainable or survive at all if young people do not have a desire to build it or for it to exist. Now the state exists only based on peace agreement, and not as a wish everyone has to live together.” In fact, he said this: “Separation between youth seems to be greater than in 1992 because there is no system in place that would connect them. They do not really know one another, they study three different histories and geographies, read different books, they are influenced by rampant prejudice and are rarely taught critical thinking skills. All in all there is a very low level of commonality in their education, and one therefore wonders how the state can become sustainable or now it can survive if there is not desire within the youth to build a modern, EU-compatible BiH. Now the state of BiH exists only due to the peace agreement and not out of a desire to live and build together.”

That latter statement stands as a good summation of the problems with education today Bosnia and Herzegovina—problems that this Mission, together with its domestic and international partners, is seeking to address. It is a pity that you chose not to report it, and other things attributed to the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a manner that properly conveyed his words to your readers.

Yours sincerely,

Alexandra George
Spokesperson