Peace Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism, the former Yugoslavian countries had no opportunity to develop democratic societies, unlike other socialist countries. The six former republics had to confront war and the most severe conflict occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each of the newly-formed small countries, created when the former SFRY (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) crumbled, aspired to strengthen its own specific and individual national characteristics, which would in turn strengthen its sense of being different from the neighboring countries, and would provide justifiable reasons for the secession from the former unified nation (Pasalic, 2008). The creation of separate educational systems represented a major means of fostering national characteristics. This meant that the uniform educational system that had formerly been in place in each of the six newly formed countries (although taught in different languages and dialects), was replaced by six systems, each attempting to be different from the next. Creators of such systems focused more on trying to be different than on attempting to assure the quality of the system (Pasalic, 2008). At the same time, many peace education projects led by local and international organisations managed to involve the wider community in their activities. Additionally, educational reform, as well as the introduction of subjects like civic education, democracy, human rights and life skills, introduced the basic elements of peace education in the formal education system.