Showing that multi-ethnic education is possible

Brčko District is a neutral, self-governing administrative unit that is formally part of both entities, the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1996, the OSCE Mission has been building bridges between people from the separate parts of Brčko District. It helped to organize the first democratic elections, establish the first multi-ethnic assembly and create accountable and transparent democratic institutions. Brčko District is now recognized as a highly developed unit of local self-governance and a model for the rest of the country in the fields of multi-ethnicity, good governance and especially education.

The Mission promoted Brčko District’s multi-ethnic education system and facilitated the first study visits of teachers, parents and students from different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Brčko District. At a time when many people in the country do not believe that an integrated, multi-ethnic education system can work in practice, the smiling faces of Brčko students and their teachers of different ethnic background sitting together in the class, being taught the same curriculum, are unforgettable moments, showing the rest of the country that this is possible.

Karmelita Simić, National Education Officer, and Vanja Rikanović, Community Development Program Assistant, in the Field Office in Brčko

This article first appeared in issue 4/2010  of the OSCE Magazine.