30 years, 30+ stories: Bosnia and Herzegovina, historic moments crossing the path of the ETF

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was formed in 1992 after the break-up of Yugoslavia. It has a population of about 3.5 million and remains deeply divided officially along ethno-national lines although the identities and cultural backgrounds of people cannot be categorised in the same manner: Bosniaks (50.1%), Serbs (30.8%) and Croats (15.4%).  

The country of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists today of two main entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH, mainly Bosniaks and Croats) and the Republika Srpska (RS, mainly Serbs), plus the autonomous district of Brčko. 

The 1992-95 war in Bosnia left lasting scars on the country's political structure, which is highly decentralised and governed by a complex power-sharing agreement under the Dayton Accords. Its governance, such as the tripartite presidency, reflects the peace outcomes of the war and poses serious challenges to policymaking. 

Overall, the young Balkan country has also shown progress and development in recent decades, leading to the granting of candidate status by the European Union in 2022 and the recent start of accession negotiations in March 2024. A survey conducted by the Directorate for European Integration (DEI) showed that 73.3% of respondents were in favour of their country joining the EU (86% in BiH and 50.6% in RS). 

A fragmented education system 

While 'public expenditure on formal education accounts for 4.3% of GDP, there are concerns about the quality of education, particularly evident in international assessments like the 2018 PISA study, where most 15-year-olds had low achievement in key subjects', according to the latest country report prepared by Jan Peter De Otero, ETF human capital development expert and country liaison for Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Above all, the education system itself is characterised by a complex governance structure, with multiple institutions overseeing its development. Efforts to improve vocational education and training (VET) are aimed at strengthening competitiveness and attractiveness, while also improving the transition from school to the labour market. 

The current priorities for the country are to extend and update the action plan for the Qualifications Framework in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to establish an intersectoral commission for this purpose.  The ETF has been working closely with the Bosnian authorities to support the development of the BiH NQF.  

The ETF has also 'provided very valuable technical assistance and complemented the EU Delegation's ongoing efforts in the employment sector to improve employment coordination and career development support system in Bosnia and Herzegovina,' says Ljiljana Pandžić, who leads on employment developments at the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina.  

'Furthermore, its support in strengthening the country's VET system, including information sessions with Bosnian authorities on various aspects of VET, has been an asset in the education sector,' adds her colleague Stephan Dahlgren, programme manager on education at the EU Delegation to BiH. 

In order to improve the transition of young people into the labour market, it is important to align youth employment support programmes with the EU's Youth Guarantee scheme, to increase employment and skills development opportunities for young people, one of the main challenges in the country. 

'Although the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina defines responsibilities for employment governance, there should be a systematic approach to improving the coordination mechanisms needed to ensure a more efficient implementation of employment policies and respond properly to the emerging challenges in the labour market. This may be done by establishing the inter-ministerial conference as well as some sort of consultation committee, which would gather all actors of importance for labour issues. Well-functioning coordination mechanism is of utmost importance for making progress in the EU integration processes,' argues Pandžić. 

Crossroads of destinies 

The fortunes of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of ETF staff cross paths in a curious way. On 13 March last year, the ETF hosted a conference on lifelong learning at the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels. On the same day, the atmosphere in the Belgian capital was electric: Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the countries affected by the European Commission's announcement the day before regarding the start of EU accession negotiations.  

In a moment that led to hearty applause, Amina Isanović Hadžiomerović from the University of Sarajevo remarked that 'it is an honour to be here at such a historic moment for my country', while the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Belgium Erol Avdovic was also present at the event. 

ETF Director Pilvi Torsti also has deep ties to Bosnia and Herzegovina since mid-1990s. She defended her PhD thesis related to Youth and History politics in post-war BiH in 2003. Dr. Torsti is a co-founder of the United World College (UWC) in Mostar, which was established in 2006 and has till today served in volunteer capacity the governance of the school.  

The UWC in Mostar was the first school in the celebrated education network, which today consists of 18 institutions around the world, with the explicit aim of contributing to the reconstruction of a post-conflict society. 'We started the work as a team of three musketeers with founding Fathers of UWC movement Antonin Besse and David Sutcliffe, both with experience of World War II and Cold War in Europe. The idea materialised in discussion between David and me,' said Torsti. 

'It was inspired by his speech "International education must be taken where it is needed but cannot be afforded." The proposal I made as a young scholar specialising in Bosnia  – but also as a UWC graduate – was this: could we use the experience of UWC and IB [International Baccalaureate, ed.] with almost forty years of accepting students from conflict and threatening conditions to study together, but this time apply it within the divided system itself?' said Torsti. 'This was in the early 2000s – an idea that was completely new for UWC and perhaps at the beginning only three of us believed in it: to bring UWC and IB to places that were perceived as dangerous. The level of destruction in the whole of Bosnia after the war was 75%." 

There were many obstacles to this "act of faith": the post-war division, the lack of security, the perception of an elitist institution in a broken country. But there was also growing support from the authorities for quality education model. 'I believe it was crucial that from the beginning we had local supporters like Lamija Tanovic, Jasminka Bratic and Mirna Jancic, as well as Ivan Lorencic from Slovenia. We also showed that we could rethink – the first idea was to establish a UWC school in Sarajevo – but that was not relevant enough for the local community. From the start, we had broader goals than being just a school – most of them materialising now in teacher training, joint social service programmes and regional short courses,' said Torsti.  

'Although we weren't sure of the final outcome until spring 2006, we managed to open the UWC that year inside the place of the famous Mostar old Gymnasium. These kinds of experiences revolutionise the way you look at the world: if there is something you believe in, overcoming obstacles and working hard for the almost impossible goal is worth living for, that was my MBA and applied science of PhD.' 

A joint UWC-IB initiative, with the crucial support of Elisabeth Rehn, the UN rapporteur on human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lamija Tanovic, a dedicated physics teacher who helped organise schools in the camps for Bosnian refugees, brought the Mostar College to life. Many patrons, the first being the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Government of Norway, later followed by special Endowment initiated by Adriaan de Mol van Otterloo, made it possible to keep the dream alive until today. 

'Our idea was that you can't change the system through 14 ministries, but rather have a demonstration of quality education that all national and international young students can participate: that was the idea behind the creation of the UWC in Mostar,' concludes Torsti. A Bosnian politician once told her: 'It's not really easy to succeed here, but when you do, it means you've built something big.' The ETF will do the same to help the Bosnian authorities successfully implement education and employment policies that will bring the country ever closer to the EU.