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Davidson: Replace Emphasis on Divisions in Education with Tolerance

Yesterday, the Association of Independent Intellectuals Krug 99, held its regular session in Sarajevo, to duscuss the subject of Pre-School, Elementary and Secondary Education in B&H. Douglas Davidson, Head of OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, provided the introductory remarks. Douglas Davidson “Bosnia and Herzegovina is not the only country in Europe facing problems in education, although it is unique for the fact that it has to fight such problems after a destructive war”, said Davidson. OSCE’s involvement in education reforms, commented Davidson, came natural, having in mind that it is fully in line with OSCE goals such as conflict resolution and post-conflict renewal. Davidson added that the process of finding solution to these two processes in B&H should start from the education of citizens and future leaders. The current emphasis on divisions and differences ought to be replaced with emphasis on tolerance. He presented the example of the plan for development of education in Croatia, which aims at creation of intellectually and professionally competent and humanist human capital, and added that the education system now faces the challenges of promotion and care for national, cultural and humanist values that develop the sense of community, acceptance and tolerance for diversity, solidarity, responsibility and sustainable development of democratic society as a whole. B&H faces the same problems and has the same needs, but education policies in the country moves in “totally opposite direction”. For instance, there is the segregation characteristic of the “two schools under one roof” system, which is present all over the country, in different forms and shapes. Speaking in more detail, Davidsson said that the inclusion of national, cultural and humanist values in the schools assists the development of the sense of community. In that regard, the quality and character of teaching staff, as well as the contents of the curriculum are more important than whether the schools are equipped with computers or the size of the schools. ”The central issue faced by the country and its education system today is: ‘What this country aims to be and what we want the students to think about it’”, emphasized Davidson. Event the international community in B&H, with its focus on structures and legislation related to education reforms, loses the essential things from view.

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