The Ministry of Education’s Department of Early Education has finalized plans to expand the “Maharati” My Skills project to include primary schools.  This expansion drive will make it the fourth in four years.

According to the department, the project has been instrumental in measuring the mathematical and language skills of the students. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been battling with many post-war crises including persistently shrinking economy, residual landmines, and ethnic segregations.

The department revealed that the result from the assessment of the first cohort students was satisfactory to both the schools under the My Skills project as well as to the partners of the project. For the second group of the project, 11 primary schools were selected.

The troubles faced in the Western Balkans region can be tackled effectively with education. For example, the problem of sectarianism among the Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs is one of the problems that can be tackled by public enlightenment. Since it would mean total re-orientation, the younger citizens will need to be the target for it to be efficient.

This is one of the initiatives that have been laid down by early education administration to boast student performance in numeracy and language skills particularly from grades 1 to 6. At least about 50 percent of the people of Bosnia are aspiring to go abroad to study as revealed by the recent survey by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).

The response from the survey reveals how pessimistic the people of Bosnia are when it comes to national issues – and this has negatively affected the education sector.

The next phase of the initiative will focus on training for schools to recreate similar impact it had on students and teacher’s developmental performance which has been widely lauded.  The program also encourages the teachers to employ the best practices that will effectively enhance students’ numeracy and language skills.

At the primary level, the performance of the students is largely a reflection of how good the teacher is. It takes a skilled teacher to get the best result from the students at the primary level. “Maharati” My Skills project aims to empower school leaders through mentoring and training.

The training or mentoring session will either be through workshops, individual mentoring session, empowering the teacher coordinators, making lesson plans and other relevant project objectives. Extension of the “Maharati” My Skills project to Bosnia and Herzegovina will be of great benefit to the entire Western Balkans region.