Zepce: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 186625.DTL

A School No Longer Divided: Ethnic Groups Overcome Decades of Segregation in Bosnia-Herzegovina

In collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, American Councils for International Education just launched its newest program in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with the purpose of bringing together high school students from the Croat and Bosniak ethnic groups to share a classroom for the first time in 20 years.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) February 13, 2012

In collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, American Councils for International Education just launched its newest program in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with the purpose of bringing together high school students from the Croat and Bosniak ethnic groups to share a classroom for the first time in 20 years.

Seven students from the Bosniak ethnic group and seven students from the Croat ethnic group are sharing a classroom and studying English language and American culture during this 27-week course. Bosniak and Croat teachers of English are working together to instruct the class for two hours per week using an "American-style" curriculum, which includes educational films, games, group activities, and individual presentations. American Councils is implementing this pilot project in two high schools in the town of Zepce, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

As a remnant of the Balkans Wars in the late 1990s, nearly 60 high schools in Bosnia-Herzegovina remain segregated along ethnic lines. Often referred to as "segregated schools" or "two schools under one roof," these high schools hold separate classes for Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks. Students from different ethnic groups even enter the school through separate doors. This new program marks the first time students of different ethnic groups share a classroom and study together in a segregated school.

When asked about the anticipated effects of the new program, Lisa Fiala, American Councils' Regional Director for Southeast Europe, explained, "the unique ability of this program to bring together students from different ethnic groups, otherwise educated in segregated classrooms, while incorporating American-style teaching and learning, will prove invaluable and will serve to promote cooperation, interaction, and understanding among participants." After the successful implementation of the pilot project, there are plans are to expand the program to more schools and include other ethnic groups.

What's the situation in places like Usora, Orasje, Tuzla etc? I imagine the schools didn't even separate during the war so segregation is not an issue, but I'm not sure.

Who could define the term segregation? Why the desire of the Croatian people in B&H to have education in Croatian language is often labeled whit this term?

Usora and Orašje have primary and high schools based on croatian language and educational program. I'm not sure if in Orašje have also some Univesity programs of Mostar Uni!?

In Tuzla Croats have option to study on gimnasium/h. school KŠC (Chatolic school center) Sv. Franjo.

Those are remains of communistic regime from ex Yugoslavia.

Sarajevo use precisely all adjectives communists used to use, to justify their central power grip:

- seggregation
- separation
- ustasha
- faschists
- nationalists
- enemy of the state (how Bosniaks see state)
- retrograde powers (same phrase communist party used. Worth noticing is that they will never use this phrase for nationalists Bosniaks.)

- Etc....etc...list is long.

A jebi se Lider, mislio sam da Rory pita. Stavite avatare lijenčine Božje.

Hi Rory,

sorry for not being able to give you a definite answer for Orašje.

However, you might want to contact either the elementary school in Orašje or the high school in Orašje.

They might answer your query.

Osnovna škola (Elementary School) Orašje
[email protected]

Srednja škola Martina Nedića (Martin Nedić High School) Orašje
[email protected]
[email protected]

Source:
http://www.zupanijaposavska.ba/nova2/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=71&Itemid=287

Five Faculties of the University of Mostar have their branches in Orašje.
They function in Croatian language only.

Regarding Usora and Tuzla:

You can contact Usora Municipality for details: [email protected], but there is only one school.

In Tuzla Canton there are no "segregated schools", because all the public schools function in Bosnian language (formally they teach "Mother tongue and literature", but in reality it's Bosnian -> It's official name is "Maternji jezik i književnost" in Bosnian, in Croatian it should be "Materinski jezik i književnost").

The only place where you can get education in Croatian language is in private Catholic School Centre, where they teach in Croatian language and with the textbooks published in Mostar.
You can check the fact they have Croatian language teachers ("profesorica hrvatskog jezika i književnosti"):
http://os.ksc-tuzla.edu.ba/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=60

Regards,
Glazbenik

That's interesting. None of the media or press made a top headline news about "End of separatism and segregation in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

Check this. It was published today:
http://www.zepce.ba/epe/item/1859-sm%C5%A1-%C5%BEep%C4%8De-pilot-projekt-%E2%80%9Etolerancija-kroz-engleski-jezik%E2%80%9C

In the next few days there might be something in other media, too.

Yes, but that's the local media. They are normal. Sarajevo-x and Avaz are going to have a different "point of view".

They will spin the news in the direction they deem useful for their purposes. No surprise there.

However, they do use the news already published on the local portals, so I wouldn't be surprised to read about it in Sarajevo media in a day or two.

NoviSeer: what is the school situation by you? Do Croatian children in Šeer have the ability to attend class following a Croatian curriculum?

Children in here in majority attend the school in a predominantely Muslim Novi Šeher. That school is also divided in a Croatian and a Muslim part. There is catholic elementary school in a village of Ponijevo that kids from some villages attend, but that's only from 1st to 4th grade.

Lol @ Americans. Stretching out a generous hand to uplift savages from the Balkan mud of ethnic segregation. They would close down Croatian classes if they could just so they could congratulate themselves for promoting multiculturalism (don't look for logic).

I live in Ottawa which is in the province of Ontario, Canada. In Ontario we have french public schools where there is enough demand for them. We have english, english catholic, french, and french catholic school boards. No other religions are funded because Ontario is a Catholic province. This is however very discriminatory. Because of this, the public schools (non-religious) are filled with Atheists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Protestants and other faiths. I am studying to become a teacher and recently had a placement at a public school that was 80% Muslim. The Arab/Persian/Afghan girls in Grades 4-8 all wore the hijab. There were also some Serb and Bosniak children at the school. There are also some private schools (which can be quite costly) here in Ottawa. There are a couple for Jews and a couple for Muslims as well. And of course some non-religious ones as well.

What I am trying to say, is that since Croatian and Bosnian have different words for things, they should have their own schools and curriculum. But maybe they should have gym and any foreign languages together so that they are somewhat integrated. That way, they will see they are all just students and kids and that they are not so different. Racism exists here in Canada too though, and ethnic groups at schools do not always mix either. So it is tough. But if Croats and Bosniaks see their languages as truly different, then they should be able to have classes in their language.

Are there any public schools in Tuzla, Zenica, Maglaj, Lukavac for Croats and Serbs to go to school in their own language? And I know that in Sarajevo, there are private catholic schools for Croats, but are there any public schools there for Croats and Serbs to learn in their languages?

The answer is - NO. Wherever Muslim army has controlled territory during the war, there are no public schools now, where Croats and Serbs could learn in their own languages.

It is also true that:

Wherever Serbian army has controlled territory during the war, there are no public schools now, where Croats and Bosniaks/Muslims could learn in their own languages.

Wherever Croatian army has controlled territory during the war, there are ONLY FEW schools where Bosniaks or Serbs could learn in their own language and they were

It's a big difference, and that's apparently.

That is sad then. There would be enough demand in Zenica and Tuzla having looked at 2010 voting results and halving that to get an estimate of children numbers. Over 1900 HDZ/HDZ1990/HSP/HSS voters in Zenica, so at least 900 children live there. There could be a few schools spread in areas of high Croat numbers. The schools could have at least 150 students ideally. Same with Tuzla, over 3100 Croat party voters, so maybe 1500 children. Of course there would also be children whose parents did not vote. In Maglaj, probably a couple hundred children. Lukavac, 150 Croat children, 90 Serb. Similar number of Serb in Zenica and Tuzla.

In city of Bihac, we have KSC. That" s the most important!

I assume that is a school. Is it free or do parents have to pay for it?

It" s free for now.

The natural language is not necessarily distinct, but you don't go to school for that. You learn that at home. You go to school to learn a literary language and these are distinct.



KŠC = Catholic School Centre. Private schools funded by the RKC, they bail out the Croat parents in many places where Muslim-dominated authorities won't open Croatian classes in public schools.


Anyway an important point to grasp is characterization of the "two schools under one roof" as a manifestation or a cause of segregation, which of course alludes to legislative racism and segregation that disadvantaged blacks in the American south before the 1960s, is unfair. There is no pro-segregationist legislature of any kind. Croat parents are perfectly free to send their children to classes taught according to Bosniak curriculum and vice-versa. It just means the state, where the Croats are dominant, provides education in curriculums of each constituent nationality of Bosnia and Herzegovina (rather than just in the one of the locally dominant nationality), what is wrong with that?

There is nothing wrong with that. Though it is strange that students use the same facilities, but don't interact with each other or in fact react negatively when they meet. But if there is not enough funding for each to have their own school building, then they will have to continue to operate under the same roof. I support Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks being able to have classes in their language etc. Here in Ottawa, some people go to school in french at the french board, but some francophones go instead to english schools. The english schools also have a french immersion program which sees students have most of their day in french as a way for them to learn the french language. In their case, french is their second or third language.

I saw this today. I'm sure this will generate some discussion...

Source: http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/x ... feature-04

Court rules against ethnic segregation in BiH schools

A Mostar court ruled against the practice of ethnic and religious segregation in public schools but analysts say the ruling will provide an impetus for sweeping reforms in the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) neglected educational system.

The court ordered education officials and two schools in the towns of Stolac and Capljina to abolish segregation as well as to establish mixed classrooms for Bosniak and Bosnian Croat children by September.

"The organisation of the schools along ethnic lines and the implementation of ethnic-based curricula segregated the children by their ethnicity, representing discriminatory practice," the court said.

The two schools are part of a network of 52 schools across the nation, but mostly in the Federation of BiH (FBiH), under the controversial Two Schools Under One Roof system.

The OSCE mission in BiH initiated the system as a temporary measure to encourage people to return to their homes and to prevent ethnic violence.

Three FBiH cantons, inhabited by Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats, implemented it in 1999.

Under the system, children and teachers from the two ethnic groups have no contact -- using separate entrances and facilities, ethnic-based curricula and, at times, schedules.

In Republika Srpska, Bosniak and Bosnian Croat returnees attend separate schools altogether.

The Sarajevo-based legal aid network Vasa Prava (Your Rights) filed an ethnic discrimination lawsuit in early 2011 to challenge the practice, likening it to South Africa's apartheid.

"This discrimination targeting children, starting in kindergarten, has lasted for over a decade, and it is clear that politicians have no intention of changing it. Their goal is to cement the existing situation, which keeps students from inter-mixing. From this perspective, it appears that the war never ended," Vasa Prava’s executive director, Emir Prcanovic told SETimes.

A March 2011 report published by Thomas Hammarberg, CoE commissioner for human rights, noted the divisions along ethnic lines appear to be more prevalent and decisive today than when the system was first implemented, and the leading politicians are openly advocating it.

"The policy of separating children according to their ethnic origin can only reinforce the prejudices and intolerance towards others and perpetuate ethnic isolation … Ethnically based, divided education systems also remain a serious obstacle to sustainable returns of persons displaced due to the war," Hammarberg said.

Children are separated based on their first and last names, according to Aida Becirovic, manager of the Schuler Helfen Leben Foundation's BiH office.

"They are being brainwashed to be nationalists and fascists. When these children talk, you can often hear phrases that came from their teachers and parents," Becirovic told SETimes.

She said when the children are brought together, they realise they share the same goals and problems in life.

"The braver ones told us teachers and their colleagues punish them if they communicate with the 'others'. All of this seems unrealistic for this part of the world and the time in which we are living," she added.

Education, BiH's least reformed sector, is a highly politicised microcosm of the country's struggle with ethnic division, making schools battlefields in the fight for ethnic dominance.

The court's ruling notwithstanding, Prcanovic is concerned ethnic segregation is too deeply rooted.

"Four or five generations of pupils have been educated in this 'mono-ethnic' system. New generations have had absolutely no contact with their peers from other ethnic groups. They do not know their own country's history and geography. Most importantly, soon they will be an important electorate for the nationalist parties," Prcanovic said.

For a decade, the international community urged the BiH leaders to abolish the practice, and in 2004, the High Representative imposed the Law on Primary and Secondary Education, which stipulated suspending Two Schools Under One Roof.

However, the ministries from three cantons refused to implement the law. There is no law governing education on the state level while there are 13 laws in the two entities and different cantons in FBiH.

Becirovic and Prcanovic said abolishing segregation can be successful only if education professionals pursue that goal and if the ethnically biased curriculum is eliminated.

"We can not be satisfied while courts implement education reforms initiated by local and foreign NGOs, while schools are run by politicians and the heads of ministries who have no experience in education," Becirovic added.