Continuous decrease in the number of primary and secondary school students in FBiH

The FBiH Government today adopted the Information on the enrollment of students in primary and secondary schools in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 2014/15 school year. Namely, according to the analysis of the trend in the total number of primary school students in the Federation of BiH for the period 2010/11 – 2014/15 school years, a continuous decrease in the number of primary school students is noticeable, it was announced, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

- According to aggregate data for the Federation of BiH, the number of students in primary schools decreased by 30,909 students or 13.84 percent in the five-year period. This decrease is evident in all cantons, and is most pronounced in percentage terms in Posavina and Bosansko-Podrinje Canton. The reasons for the decrease in the number of primary school students include the birth rate decline, an increase in the number of children who do not enroll in primary school at all, irregular attendance, or interruption of primary education before its completion. In secondary schools, it is stated that, according to aggregate data for eight cantons in the Federation of BiH, the number of first-grade students in the current school year compared to the 2010/11 school year is lower by 8,842 students or 28.53 percent.

The reasons for the decrease in the number of enrolled students in secondary schools include, also, the birth rate decline, but also the fact that the first grade of secondary school in the previous school year was enrolled by the first generation of students educated according to the nine-year primary education program, and which was smaller than previous generations.

Due to this trend, the FBiH Government today adopted a series of recommendations that are in line with the consistent application of Article 16 of the Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education, ensuring an effective system for recording and covering children who do not enroll in primary school and who drop out of primary and secondary education, and the need to continue the project of providing free textbooks for children from socially vulnerable families.