Education Committee in Sarajevo Canton Discusses SAFER Document, Enita Nakaš States 'We Don't Need This Experiment'

(Patria) - "Towards SAFER Learning – Reform of Preschool, Primary, and Secondary Education in Sarajevo Canton" is the title of the strategic document adopted by the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton. This document has caused considerable controversy in the public. Enita Nakaš from Our Party, a member of the Education Committee in Sarajevo Canton, commented on this matter. Nakaš is also one of the vice-rectors at the University of Sarajevo.

"The recently published strategic document titled 'Towards SAFER Learning – Reform of Preschool, Primary, and Secondary Education in Sarajevo Canton' is not adequate to serve as the basis for educational reform. The document itself lacks a connection to the existing legal framework, the development strategy of Sarajevo Canton, a description or overview of the current state of education, measurable indicators for achieving the set goals, and the goals themselves are not clearly defined.

The SAFER document does not contain any methodology or action plan, meaning a way to implement the strategy, nor does it specify indicators or an estimate of the financial resources needed for implementation.

The authors of SAFER, Christopher Jones, Ziauddin Jordan, and Scott Jordan, do not meet even the minimum criteria to deal with such a complex topic. They have no published works in the field of education, educational reform, curriculum development, etc. No one cites them, no one has professionally/scientifically tested their methods, nor described their case studies of educational transformation.

The SAFER document should have been available for public discussion, as is the case with the development strategy of Sarajevo Canton, given that the implementation of the strategy will be financed from the budget of Sarajevo Canton and is a public interest. The public, however, has been bypassed, including the professional public.

The very idea of SAFER, unclearly explained, as it has not been tested anywhere so far, and the document with the listed shortcomings, given that it would be tested here for the first time, resembles an experiment, and such an approach to our education is unacceptable. We have clear guidelines on how to improve our education, and we have competent people who can do it," Nakaš concluded.