Bosnia and Herzegovina

Capital: Sarajevo
Area: 51,129 km²
Population: approx. 3.8 million
Official Languages: Bosnian, Serbian, Kroatian, using the Latin (Bosnian/Croatian) as well as the Cyrillic (Serbian) alphabet

Web tips:

Government
Ministry of Civil Affairs
Agency for Pre-Primary, Primary and Secondary Education
Federal Ministry for Education and Science
Republic of Srpska Government, Ministry of Education

Sarajevo

The OeAD's Regional Office in Sarajevo implements a series of education projects in close cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministries of Education of both entities and all cantons in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Agency for Pre-Primary, Primary and Secondary Education. The cooperation focuses primarily on the reform of vocational education and training, education and quality management at schools and on improving cooperation between the business sector and vocational education and training.

Key Focuses:

• Reform of tourism training
• Closer cooperation between schools and the business sector
• Introduction of the training firm learning method
• Education and quality management

Examples:

Improvement of the quality and relevance of vocational education and training in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2021 – 2030 based on the Riga recommendations
High-quality vocational education and training that is relevant to the labour market is one of the basic prerequisites for sustainable development of the economy and society. The promotion of innovative and competitive initial and continuing vocational education and training is therefore the aim of the "Riga conclusions" of the ministries responsible for vocational education and training in the EU member countries and those countries which are in the process of accession. The vocational education and training systems in Bosnia and Herzegovina therefore also endeavour to implement the objectives of the "Riga conclusions" in the five priority areas identified. In a total of five round tables with representatives of all relevant VET governance institutions and social partners the corresponding development priorities were identified for each priority area. This process is to culminate in a national strategic document with an integrated action plan at the end of 2020. The OeAD was supported in the development of this document by the ETF – European Training Foundation.

Effective quality development in schools and colleges of vocational education and training through successful change management – Strengthening the skills of headmasters and headmistresses

Quality development in vocational education and training is a development priority in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. School quality development systems have been introduced in all three countries. The leadership competence of school headmasters and headmistresses to successfully initiate and manage the change processes necessary for quality development at schools has been identified as a key success factor for the effectiveness of school QA systems in all three countries.

The aim of this regional project is therefore to strengthen the leadership and change management skills of headmasters and headmistresses for effective school QA in all three countries through appropriate further education programmes.

In cooperation with the University College of Teacher Education Styria and experts from relevant institutions in the three partner countries an analysis format has been developed for the survey of existing training needs of headmasters and headmistresses. In country analyses the further education needs have been identified and existing further education offers in this area have been analysed. On this basis a training concept for headmasters and headmistresses has been developed in cooperation with the relevant ministries and Austrian and local experts and the systemic anchoring in the education systems has been initiated. In order to increase the understanding and knowledge of effective QA mechanisms in Bosnia and Herzegovina two two-day training courses were organised for a total of 60 school headmasters and headmistresses. The aim is to strengthen the leadership skills of 120 headmasters and headmistresses of schools of vocational education and training in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the field of effective school QA. Moreover, new approaches and trends in school quality management are continuously presented and discussed at national and regional conferences by local and international experts.

Cooperation between schools and business in the tourism sector
Close cooperation between vocational schools and businesses is a prerequisite for high-quality vocational training that is geared towards the needs of the labour market. The goal of the regional "Cooperation between Schools and Business" project is to improve the quality of practical training for pupils by impoving cooperation between partners in the tourism industry and tourism and hospitality management schools. The focus is on the organisation of qualitative company internships. The project results include the development and anchoring of an expanded task profile for the practice-oriented vocational instruction coordinators as liaisons between schools and businesses, particularly in the organisation of company internships. To implement the new task profile guidelines are developed that also include measures to anchor the cooperation between schools and businesses in school quality development. National web portals and other dissemination mechanisms are developed to improve the flow of information between businesses and schools. The project’s regional focus will allow the exchange of experience in this field between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Austria.

In order to anchor the new task profile for the practice-oriented vocational instruction coordinator in the education systems nationwide workshops with relevant stakeholders are organised. Representatives from around 50 schools that provide training in the tourism industry are trained in methods to improve cooperation with businesses to increase the quality of company internships. The handbook for the practice-oriented vocational instruction coordinators as well as good practice examples of cooperation between schools and businesses are designed to help the schools to further develop their cooperation with businesses.

Further publications on "Cooperation between schools and business" in Bosnia and Herzegovina:

• Needs assessment / company survey on cooperation between schools and businesses in BiH in cooperation with the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO) and the IBW
• Guidelines/manual on existing WBL formats and success factors of the different forms of cooperation with businesses have been developed

Quality assurance in the implementation of teaching by means of training firms
The aim of this project is to impart entrepreneurship skills by means of an increased implementation of training firms at business schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In order to ensure the quality of training firm teaching continuous needs assessments are carried out in close cooperation with the Ministries of Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, in particular, further education measures for teachers at business schools are organised and the organisation of regional training firm fairs is supported.

Contact Mara Ikić (Educational coordinator)