Educational Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs
Presentation
Educational Department is sector of Ministry of Civil Affairs. Main tasks of our department are preparation and implementation of act standards, affairs and terms of references, which are in competence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in relation to ascertainment to basic principles of coordination of activities, plans for harmonization of entities' ascendancy and definition of strategy on international level in educational area, participation in international workshops in educational area and ensuring implementation of BIH international engagement in this area. Sector of education participates in preparation of international pacts/contracts in educational area.
Basic concern of our sector is focused on European reform documents of all educational levels; follows implementation of home pacts and strategic documents in educational area and suggests activities in this context; actively follows European declaration events and initiates their concretisation; participates in preparation of new European integrations and control implementation, prepares bulletins and participations of BIH representatives on European and World conferences in educational area; carrying on and coordination of collaboration activities with adequate organizations like European Union and United Nations, as well as World associations in educational area; following of European community financial programs and World associations and initiates their applications; accumulation and analysis of information and data from educational area in the country; playing role of consultant to other relevant Cantonal and Republic of Srpska Ministries; working on consolidation of educational standards, all-life education, permanent professional improvement and adult education, inclusive education and other elements of educational system.
ECML contact point in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The ECML Contact Point in Bosnia and Herzegovina is in charge of disseminating European good practice in teaching languages in the country. The main aim and task of the Contact Point is to send our best multiplicators of language, according to their field of interest, to ECML centre in Grac and helping them, after coming back to the country, in spreading information to relevant institutions in BH. The final aim will be modernisation of curricula of languages in BH and introducing new teaching methodologies and approaches.
Since November 2009, Mr Bokonjic was appointed as coordinating person on behalf of Ministry of Civil Affairs for the Contact Point for the ECML in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since then, appointing of representatives of BH on different ECML seminars is done according to a list of multiplicators of German and French language prepared in close cooperation with the French cultural centre in Sarajevo and the Goethe Institute in Sarajevo. We are choosing experts according to their field of interest and topic of the seminar. After coming back to the country their job is to prepare a report about the seminar and to plan of activities in BH. Our ECML National Contact Point and the Ministry of Civil Affairs will give them support and help them in these activities.
Also we would like to prepare a list of priorities for learning and teaching languages in BH and according to this list to organise activities. Regular meetings of multiplicators and our National Contact Point will start from beginning of May and will be organised on different places in BH. One additional output of these meetings also will be defining of important guidelines and documents, which should be translated to our language.
Our National Contact Point is organising regular meetings with multiplicators and is planning to organise a regional dissemination seminar in Mostar, BH from 22-24 September 2009. The topic of the seminar will be: Piloting and implementing European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL 2). We established close contacts with Goethe Institute in BH and the French cultural centre and we plan to include them in all our activities. So, we plan to organise regular meeting with multiplicators in meetings rooms offered by these institutions start from 9 May.
Contacts about Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country on the Balkan peninsula of South Eastern Europe with an area of 51,129 square kilometres (19,741 sq mi). Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the south, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for 26 kilometres of the Adriatic Sea coastline, centered around the town of Neum. The interior of the country is mountainous in the center and south, hilly in the northwest, and flat in the northeast. Bosnia is the largest geographic region of the modern state with a moderate continental climate, marked by hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Smaller Herzegovina is at the southern tip of the country, with a Mediterranean climate and topography. Bosnia and Herzegovina's natural resources are highly abundant.
The country is home to three ethnic constituent peoples: Bosniaks, the most numerous population group of Bosnia, with Serbs in second and Croats in third. Regardless of ethnicity, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina is often identified in English as a Bosnian. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the distinction between a Bosnian and a Herzegovinian is maintained as a regional, rather than an ethnic distinction. The country is politically decentralized and comprises two governing entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska with Distrikt Brcko as a de facto third entity.
Formerly one of the six federal units constituting the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina gained its independence during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Bosnia and Herzegovina can be described as a federal democratic republic that is transforming its economy into a market-oriented system, and it is a potential candidate for membership in the European Union and NATO. Additionally, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a member of the Council of Europe since April 24, 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment on July 13, 2008.