Bridges of trust and cooperation, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Project name: "Bridges of trust and cooperation"

Project location: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Website http://genesisbl.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GenesisProjectBL/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GenesisProject5

Project description:

BiH is characterized by the phenomenon of the divided schools, most visibly symbolized by the “two-schools under one roof”. Those schools are segregated on the basis of ethnicity in cantons and areas of BiH where the population is mixed. This unique form of "apartheid", as it is often called, emerges from distrust and fear fueled by irresponsible nationalist politicians. ”Two schools under one roof” is the most explicit form of division within an education system that is itself characterized by division and decentralization on administrative and political grounds. Cultural and ethnic isolation is built into the educational system. This stands in sharp contrast to the existing human rights treaties which have been signed and ratified by BiH, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Ethnic divisions in the education system are reinforced by stereo-types and prejudices amongst those involved in education.

Three different studies on discrimination and division in BiH education system (Open Society Fund Soroš, Save the Children and UNICEF) conducted in 2007 and 2008, have shown the existence of an imbalance between hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina society could be better and fear that BiH society could be even worse if anything changes. The Save the Children Norway study indicat-ed that one in eight students regularly avoids any kind of joint activities with students from differ-ent ethnic groups, whilst every tenth teacher thinks that separate schools should be formed for members of different ethnic groups. A research conducted by the Open Society Fund Soroš, “Ed-ucation in BiH – what we teach our children?” has shown that education in BiH does not prepare young people for life in a multi-cultural society, in the spirit of respect for human rights and is not in accordance with the principles of democracy and equality. The research “Divided schools in BiH”, conducted by UNICEF BiH, shows that, in the school curriculum, greater emphasis should be put on the development of tolerance and understanding as generally accepted ethical values. The results of the UNICEF research also show that there is a high level of ethnic separation and that this is a clear indicator of fear.

The research conducted by the Genesis Project&UNICEF BiH in the divided schools in the Middle Bosnia canton, back in 2009, has taught us that communication, cooperation and dialogue be-tween the two major ethnic groups in those schools (Bosniaks and Croats) does not exist or is minimal; that the fear of losing a “national identity” is very present; that multiculturalism and co-existence are experienced as an attempt to erase the differences between nationalities, religions and confessions; and that schoolteachers, children and parents live in a “conspiracy of silence”, without communication, cooperation and dialogue. Back in 2009, we have identified fear of joint actions and programmes in the divided schools and the suspicion that the joint actions would lead towards the loss of identity. The deep segregation that exists on many different levels (school-teachers, students, etc.) prevents communication and does not contribute to the creation of a safe environment in the segregated schools. The schoolteachers who maintain the distance to-wards the “other” ethnic groups (unconsciously) become role models for their students who accept the non-cooperation as a model behavior. The prejudices and stereotypes amongst parents serve to reinforce those divisions.

Besides many examples, the following illustrate the division in schools that students experience every day: In the "two schools under one roof" the same bell rings twice to start the classes. The sound is the same, but the students know the difference. They are being separated already in the school yard. They know when it is ringing for the Bosniaks, and when for the Croats. Some of them take history classes called istorija /tn: word used by Bosniaks/, the others take history clas-ses called povijest /tn: word used by Croats/. Some take geography classes called geografija /tn: Bosniaks/, the others zemljopis /tn: Croats/. What is the difference? Only the name. The lessons are the same, but the students are divided.

These are only the major problems that demand our attention and solution.

Goal and purpose of the project:

This project contributes to overcoming the ethnic segregation.

The project goal is overcoming the ethnic segregation. The project will substantially decrease the threat of recurring conflict and violence by promoting the peaceful coexistence, which is characterized by the increased trust, respect for diversity, strengthened inter-cultural dialogue among all project beneficiaries, in particular the youth.

Project outcomes are:

• Cooperation and communication among children, teachers and parents of different ethnic groups is improved.
• Peer-education, as method of education, is affirmed and accepted.
• Changes of the attitudes and behavior among project direct beneficiaries have been improved.

Motivation of the applicant / applicant team:

Officially, there is no BiH government policy that tackles the issue of “two schools under one roof”. International agencies have tried to unite the administration of the schools, for example, to integrate them administratively, so that they become "one school with two programmes" instead of "two schools under one roof". Despite the great international community pressure, this was applied in only a few schools in seven years. In an attempt to "solve" the problem, local advocates for the separation of the students have offered a "solution" that simply a new school building is built, in order to move in a group of students (members of one ethnic group), and to thereby obtain two "One school under one roof", i.e. the "problem" would no longer exist.

On the level of the Cantonal government (Cantonal Assembly and Cantonal Ministry of education) one of the “strategies” is to create new divisions. At the moment, the children in municipality of Jajce in the Middle Bosnia canton (Jajce is characterized by deeply divided and segregated primary schools) attend high school together and they got a chance to sit in the benches with their peers of a different nationality and religion, after years of separation during the primary schools education. However, again, the cantonal politics interfered in the children's lives and now they want to separate children furthermore, while they are attending the secondary school. Again, they want to separate children based of their ethnic origin. Cantonal Assembly decided to establish new high school in Jajce that will operate according to Bosnian curriculum. The new / “Bosniak” school will be formed from the existing resources, so the existing space and the same teaching staff will be used. Meaning, a new “two schools under one roof” should be created in Jajce (this time high/secondary school), if Cantonal Assembly decision is implemented. Thanks to the rebellion started by the children – pupils of the high school, the Cantonal Assembly’s decision implementation is postponed for the next year. Children who started rebellion are the “Genesis children”. They participated in our workshops together, during their primary school education, they have become friends and now they do not allow new separations to be imposed by the cantonal politicians.

The Genesis Project is, at the moment, the only organization which is allowed to work in the divided schools and through our workshops we are bringing the divided ethnic groups together and the participants of the joint actions have a chance to build the relationships and intercultural under-standing. There were / are some other NGOs who sporadically conducted the activities in the divided schools but those were short-time projects which often were implemented in the mono-ethnic groups and that were NOT focusing on the topics such as coexistence, tolerance, peace building, etc. but were focused on other activities such as, for example, English language classes. There is no other NGO which implements the "peace building" activities in multi-ethnic groups for such a long-term period like the Genesis (since 2009 continuously).

Being able to enter these divided schools and to conduct the joint actions with divided ethnic groups is, for sure, one of our biggest achievements.

Use of prize money:

Prize money will be used for development of new puppet theater play and drama theater play.

Costs for the conductance of these theater plays will be covered by other project donors (two German foundations).

New theater plays will enable us to continue working in divided schools and divided communities throughout Middle Bosnia Canton, focusing our efforts on development of coexistence, tolerance, peace building, etc. among children from their early aged.