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The Senior Deputy High Representative, Ambassador Dr. Matei Hoffmann,
welcomes the measures agreed today by the Cantonal Education Ministers with
regard to the concrete implementation of the May 10 Education Agreement, as
well as the constructive spirit in which the meeting was conducted.
The meeting, held at the OHR, was opened by Ambassador Hoffmann and
co-chaired by OHR's Senior Education Advisor Claude Kieffer, Federation
Education Minister Fahrudin Rizvanbegovic and his Deputy Ivo Miro Jovic.
The Cantonal Ministers agreed to the following:
- The next phase of the textbook review is to be completed by 31
December 2000.
- Pedagogical Institutes will be tasked with the development of
"curricular modules" for culture, language and literature to be integrated
in the curricula of Bosnia and Herzegovina's other two constituent peoples
by September 2000.
- All pupils will be taught about all major religions practiced in BiH
as from September 2000; the relevant Ministries, Pedagogical Institutes and
religious communities will be involved in the development of the necessary
curricula and course materials.
- Courses in Human Rights and Civic education will gradually replace
the current subject of civic defence/social studies. There will be pilot
courses, and available expertise and materials will be used.
- The relevant Ministries will publish data on returnee pupils and
teachers on a regular basis, and teachers will be hired according to the
changing ethnic composition of the local populations as returns increase.
- An information campaign will be carried out in order to inform
teachers, administrators and parents of all the changes that will affect the
existing education systems.
- Mutual recognition of school certificates and records will be
formalised in the Federation; the problem of the recognition of European
higher education diplomas will be dealt with by the recently established
Higher Education Board.
- Textbooks imported from Croatia will be phased out within a period
of two years.
All these measures provide the necessary framework to solve the existing
school crisis and prevent future problems.
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Hoffmann said that education was high on
the agenda of the International Community and that the latest Peace
Implementation Council meeting in Brussels showed the International
Community's growing impatience with Bosnia and Herzegovina's slow progress
in many crucial areas, including education reform. He emphasised that the
provisions of the Declaration and Agreement signed by the Entity Ministers
of Education on 10 May 2000 were non negotiable and appealed to the Cantonal
Ministers of Education to focus on the modalities of implementation.
Ambassador Hoffmann is pleased that the Ministers acknowledged the
importance of the issue and heeded his appeal.
OHR Press Release, Sarajevo, 30 May 2000
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