Drafting a Common Curriculum Framework in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Following the 1995 war and the subsequent Dayton Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina was established as an independent Federation of different constituencies (i.e. Bosnians; Serbs, Croats) with local cantons exerting important prerogatives on education. In order to overcome ethnic divisions and set the basis for a common curriculum framework for Bosnia and Herzegovina, different programmes supported by UNESCO, UNESCO IBE, European Commission, OSCE and other partner agencies were carried out to develop the personal and institutional capacities required for such a process. Over the period 2003-2004 UNESCO IBE, in collaboration with the education authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, trained and certified more than 60 curriculum specialists and decision makers representing all the constituencies. Several of these trained specialists and decision makers joined the EU Education Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina which aimed to develop a model of a core curriculum framework for the Federation (2004).