The purpose of mandatory public education is to ensure that all members of society have the skills needed to function as informed members of society and to support themselves as workers in the labor market.  Education provides a common body of cultural and technical information to citizens and also serves employers by providing a labor force already prepared to learn the specialized knowledge required to perform in their future employment.

In line with a broader discussion of curriculum and teacher training reform, the Agency for Pre-Primary, Primary and Secondary Education and representatives of CIDREE (Consortium of Institutions for Development and Research in Education in Europe) met in early 2020 to discuss future activities aimed toward developing a set of Guidelines for Inclusive Education.

BiH participated in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in April 2018.  In the results 15 year olds in BiH scored lower than the OECD average in reading, mathematics and science, a smaller number of students than the OECD average scored at the highest level of proficiency in at least one subject, and a smaller proportion of students than the OECD average scored the minimum level of proficiency in at least one core subject, however, BiH’s scores were within the range of comparable countries in the region.

Although the primary education system performs comparably with the region, BiH shows major gaps in the provision of early childhood education with less than a quarter of the children aged 2-5 attending nurseries or kindergarten (FBiH 22%, RS 22.5%).  Early childhood education has been repeatedly shown to be the most significant factor in preparing children to learn when they enter primary school and to succeed. Targeted outreach to draw children with disabilities, disfavored minorities, and families at risk to integrate them into early learning together with their peers encourages all children to succeed and to remain in school after completing primary education.

While BiH has seen significant improvement in the proportion of children in one-year pre-primary programs, at last count under half of all children entering first grade had participated in a preparatory program, including those of a few months duration and limited contact hours FBiH 57%, RS 35-45%, BD 100%).  Improving access to early childhood education and after-school programs would not only improve learning outcomes, retention, and transition to secondary and higher education, but also support higher levels of female labor force participation.

Mandatory primary education includes the overwhelming majority of BiH’s children, although with later enrollment and higher drop-out rates for children from lower income families, disfavored minorities, and children with disabilities.  Children with disabilities face inadequate accommodations and insufficient resources they need to succeed when mainstreamed and a serious lack of specialized facilities and programs for those for whom mainstreaming is not a viable option.

The transition rate from primary to secondary school shows a sharp decline for these vulnerable children, who face extremely limited options for moving into apprenticeships or vocational-technical educational programs as an alternative. 

School drop-outs are often unable to find institutions that provide legally mandated alternative equivalent education.  Repeated calls to better match school curricula to labor market demand suggest the need for a comprehensive reform of teaching materials and approaches, but to be effective, should also address the not insignificant proportion of the student population that fails to complete primary school or ends their schooling with only a 9th grade education.  BiH closed all schools in early March 2020 as its first measure to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  When schools reopen, special measures will be needed to ensure that vulnerable children and members of underserved groups and communities are reintegrating into supportive educational institutions.