Reform of General Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Neum, BiH - May 2004

 

Based on the previous work the IBE-UNESCO carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the realm of capacity building for curriculum development Mrs. Dakmara Georgescu, IBE-UNESCO programme coordinator, was invited to engage in a first EU project activity, a three-day launching seminar in Neum with the five working groups set up for the project (two dealing with curriculum issues, one dealing with the establishment of a Curriculum Agency, one for administrative issues related to education, and one for school networking and dissemination of good practices in education).

 

The seminar started on May 17th, 2004 , and ended on May 19, 2004 . It was considered successful by both participants and the EU project team. The worm working atmosphere and the good dynamics of activities, balancing short inputs/presentations and extended group activities and plenary discussions, were highly appreciated by participants.

The seminar generated a shared understanding of the role curriculum development processes should play in the overall process of a comprehensive education reform of general primary and secondary education in BiH and of the main directions for curriculum change and improvement, based on existing good practices and initiatives in BiH, and on trends and good practices internationally.

 

The participants agreed upon a draft (possible) model of a modern Curriculum Framework for BiH, addressing principles of quality learning and orienting teachers, textbook authors and other education stakeholders to answer questions such as why, what, when, how and how well should student learn in primary and general secondary education in BiH, by taking into consideration valuable local initiatives and good practices, and European standards of quality education.

 

During the seminar several outlines of different proposed Chapters of a new modern Curriculum Framework were produced that participants shared in the context of small-group activities. The international experts gave their feedback and provided suggestions for improvement.

 

Exploratory discussions on syllabus development were initiated, in relationship with the idea to develop a ‘curriculum system’ or ‘curriculum package’ in BiH, including Curriculum Framework(s), syllabuses and textbooks. In addition, issues regarding the role of a Curriculum Agency in BiH and the assessment of learning outcomes (in terms of student competencies) were also tackled, that should be further discussed in the context of future seminars and workshops.