Former Minister of Education: The common denominator for SDA and HDZ BiH is division

The national parties SDA and HDZ BiH, which are in power in the Federation of BiH, are trying to divide the educational system in FBiH into Croatian and Bosniak, writes Patria.

A large number of domestic and foreign non-governmental organizations warn that this leads to new divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The educational system in the Republika Srpska entity is already independent, the state has no jurisdiction over it.

The division of schools into Croatian and Bosniak is most intense in the Central Bosnia and Herzegovina-Neretva cantons. In the West Herzegovina canton, there are only schools operating under the Croatian curriculum. The Federation of BiH previously had a problem with "two schools under one roof", but after the Supreme Court of FBiH banned such practice, nationalist parties are now dividing schools physically.

In Kiseljak on Monday, the Primary School in Brestovsko was divided into Primary School Kiseljak 1, attended by Bosniak children, and Primary School Brestovsko, attended by primary school students of Croatian nationality. The Croatian school in Kiseljak, located only about 1.5 km from the Bosniak one, was opened by the member of the Presidency of BiH and president of HDZ BiH, Dragan Čović. SDA and HDZ BiH had previously tried to divide the school in Jajce, but students stopped them. 

The political director of SDP and former federal minister of education, Damir Mašić, told Patria that it is more than obvious that SDA and HDZ BiH are intensively working on dividing society, and this is not good for the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- The common denominator for SDA and HDZ BiH is division. These two parties divide everything that can be divided along national lines, from public companies to schools. In Mostar, you have two buildings of the Public Company Motorways of FBiH, with Croatian cadres in one building and Bosniak cadres in the other. The same is happening in the educational system of FBiH. This ultimately cannot be good for the country – believes Mašić, writes Patria.