External Matriculation Fever: Primary School Students Face a Big Test

The external matriculation project in primary schools has only been implemented in the Sarajevo Canton, where the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Sarajevo Canton is conducting tests for final grade students in several subjects for the second year. Trial testing this year was conducted on March 24, 25, and 26 to identify potential shortcomings in the subjects:

• Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian Language and Literature
• Mathematics
• First Foreign Language
• History/Geography/Informatics (depending on the student's elective subject)
• Biology/Chemistry/Physics (depending on the student's elective subject)

The principal of Primary School "Isak Samokovlija", Kenan Vučijak, told the Patria News Agency that children are fearful because the curriculum is too extensive, as it includes material from the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth grades this year, and parents share this view. The final student testing will take place on June 18, 19, and 20.

- There is certainly a certain fear among the children, given that their future depends on these results. Our teachers are working with the children to prepare them as best as possible for the test. But, I think this will prevent manipulation during enrollment in secondary school, as children will be evaluated in secondary schools based on points from the external matriculation - said Vučijak.

On the official website of the Ministry, under the 'external matriculation' link, there is an Exam Catalog, with 12 guides (one for each subject), which was published on January 20, 2014, representing the material from which students need to prepare for the external matriculation exam.

As Lejla Hamzagić – Kovačević, advisor to the Minister of Education and Science of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Damir Mašić, pointed out, this year the pilot project of external matriculation in primary schools will be in the Tuzla Canton.

- We initiated the discussion at the Conference of Ministers of Education and Science in BiH about including external matriculation at the level of the entire BiH according to the curricula and programs implemented in our country. Unfortunately, no activities have been initiated in this direction to date. We have an appointed Working Group for the introduction of external matriculation in the FBiH. Our goal is to introduce external matriculation in those parts of BiH where there is interest from the competent educational authorities - she said.

As emphasized by the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, cantonal ministries have full jurisdiction over education. Otherwise, since external matriculation is only conducted in KS, all students who wish to enroll in secondary school in the KS area, and come from other cantons, are obliged to take the external matriculation according to the KS curriculum and program.