Abstract
Abstract
Education shapes people’s perspectives and lives and can be a permanent solution for conflicts. One of the conflict areas is Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is a democratic European land home to three ethnic groups; Bosniacs, Serbs and Croats. For many years, Bosniacs, Serbs and Croats lived together as comparatively peaceful neighbors. The schools in the country were also united and students of the three nations were attending the same Bosnian schools. However, the rise of hard-line nationalists and the fall of communism helped to precipitate the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. After the collapse of Yugoslavia, the national animosities within the country reached the point of inter-ethnic violence. From 1992 to 1995, a bitter war was fought among the three officially recognized ‘constituent peoples’ in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which affected all types of relationships between the people living in the country. One thing that suffered from this war was the education system and the students involved, leaving some students without any form of education. The main aspect which this study will examine is how the war affected the schools and education system in Bosnia-Herzegovina and how the schools deal with the post war conflicts. After the war, a conflict issue of segregation came off and like other issues, the education issue was segregated in the country. Three nations from different religions and cultures did not want to live together but they had to, thus the schools were segregated. ‘Two schools under one roof’, meaning divided and separated schools and classes appeared and Bosniacs, Serbs and Croats started to be educated in different schools or in the same school but in divided classes with different curricula and languages by different teachers. The main issue of this study is how education deals with the conflict and peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
This study will focus on how education handles conflicts and contribute to conflict resolution and prevention in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and in this aspect three different schools in Sarajevo will be observed. Three schools will be handled and their approaches to the conflict will be observed and compared via analysis of the interviews and observation with reference to the literature surrounding the concepts of education, conflict and peace.
The findings in this study suggest that the negative segregation of education in Bosnia-Herzegovina could contribute to sustaining an already existing conflict. In order to resolve this conflict and erase the effects of the war from the minds, education could be one contributing factor with its role in peace and conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.