Physics Society in BiH: How was Bahrudin Trbalić removed from the list of awarded students on December 2?

The Management Board of the Physics Society in BiH sent a letter to the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Sarajevo Canton, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Tuzla Canton, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Central Bosnia Canton and the media due to the scandal involving the revocation of a deserved award from one of the students, Bahrudin Trbalić, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

Today, an award ceremony for the „best“ primary and secondary school students in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 2015/2016 school year will be held in Mostar.

- This year, the Federal Ministry of Education and Science (FMON) decided that each canton should nominate three best students from primary and secondary schools and award them prizes. The initial list of awarded students was published on November 29, 2016. For reasons that are still completely unknown, the two most successful representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Physics Olympiads were not among the awarded students, and therefore we consider it our duty to address you and seek explanations.

The Physics Society in Bosnia and Herzegovina has organized competitions over the last twenty years to select the most successful students who represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Physics Olympiads. That these are indeed the most successful students is confirmed by the fact that these students have always successfully represented Bosnia and Herzegovina, winning a total of twenty medals at international competitions. Considering the conditions under which our students prepare for these competitions, their independent effort and dedication to honorably represent our country, the lack of resources during preparation, and very weak support from the authorities, their achievements become even greater. Despite all the difficulties they encounter on their path, until now successful students could rely on their success being recognized and rewarded by institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This year, that is clearly not the case.

It is precisely for this reason that the Physics Society in Bosnia and Herzegovina considers the ignoring of the achievements of our best students – future scientists, professors, engineers, and intellectuals – unacceptable, and we find it incredible that successes confirmed by international recognitions and scholarships from the world's most prestigious universities are deemed unimportant by institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Namely, on the previously mentioned list of the best primary and secondary school students, the two most successful representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Physics Olympiads were not included, who, by their achievements, are far ahead of all other awarded students on the list:

Nermedin Džeković: winner of a silver medal at the International Physics Olympiad in 2016, winner of a bronze medal at the International Physics Olympiad in 2015, student of physics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Sarajevo

Bahrudin Trbalić: winner of a silver medal at the International Physics Olympiad in 2016 and 2015, student at MIT (the highest-ranked university in the world in the field of natural and technical sciences).

In addition, we especially want to emphasize that Bahrudin Trbalić was initially on the list of awarded students, published on November 29, 2016, on the website. However, on December 2, 2016, just one working day before the award ceremony on December 5, 2016, his parents were informed without explanation that Bahrudin would not be awarded after all, and soon a revised list was posted on the FMON website without his name.

On the list of awarded primary school students, there was no place for the best young female physicist in the FBiH, from whom we expect medals from world competitions in the future. According to criteria unknown to the public, the student of the „Safvet-beg Bašagić“ Primary School from Novi Travnik, Amila Mujkić, winner of this year's cantonal and federal physics competition for primary schools in the eighth-grade category, which is the highest level of competition for primary schools, was omitted.

Because of all the above, as a collective of the Physics Society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we ask why Amila Mujkić, Nermedin Džeković, and Bahrudin Trbalić are not among the awarded students, even though they greatly deserve it with their achievements.

We seek an answer to these questions from all ministries responsible for this issue and (in)directly involved in the case of the mentioned students, and we hope that this major oversight will be resolved in a fair manner – a manner that rewards honest work, effort, and achieved successes, and which shows that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite all obstacles, it is still possible to bravely step into the future with knowledge.

Furthermore, until now, physics competitions for primary and secondary school students in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been organized by the Physics Society in BiH with financial support from the Federal Ministry of Education and Science. Since FMON did not publish a call for co-financing/financing of competitions in 2016, we are interested in whether the Federal Ministry of Education and Science is withdrawing support for students who represent their homeland Bosnia and Herzegovina in the best possible way, through science and acquired knowledge recognized at international levels.