Ethnically Divided Education Fought By Bosnia’s Pupils
The bitterness that shrouded the Bosnian War continues to hunt the citizens in the form of ethnic segregation. A new Bosniak school is the city of Jajce is looking to take the ethnic division to a new height. The school is set to promote the separation of students within the same building depending on their ethnicity.
Following the 1992 war, student are divided into groups to learn curriculums in Croatian, Serbian, or Bosnian languages – not withstanding that linguists are of the opinion that the language is basically the same. A Croat student, Nikolas Rimac who led the protest against the segregation in Jajce said,
“We have fought and will continue to fight against fascism at schools, divisions and segregation. It’s great that the ministry overturned its decision to form a new school, but this is just the first step.”
Source: The Wire
Bosnia’s economic stagnation cannot be separated from the internal distrust existing between the Croats, Bosniaks, and Serbs. In fact, politicians base their powers on doubt for one another. All previous attempts to unify the education system have failed. The protest organizer, Amar Kundalic said,
“Unless politicians make necessary changes and abolish divisions, there will be no co-existence and progress. That is the only way to stop young people from leaving Bosnia because of education.”
Source: The Wire
The rot in the education sector continues to be the major reason why many people leave the country to seek education abroad. Bosnia’s education rot has reached the level where the respect for higher education continues to decline. Many people are now in the habit of buying diplomas and exams.
The problem becomes worse in mixed areas with no ethnic majority. Faruk Bubric, an 18-year old secondary school finalists is indifferent about the ethnic segregation. He attended an ethnically-mixed primary and secondary school which follows the Croat curriculum. In his free time, he can be seen playing video games with his friends.
“Ethnicity does not affect me, mostly because I simply do not care about it… we are basically the same… I don’t see a border between Bosniaks, Croats or Serbs.”
Source: Balkan Insight