Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton: Unfounded demands for annulment of the competition for hiring workers in schools

(Patria) - This year, the competition for hiring workers in primary and secondary schools of Sarajevo Canton is being conducted digitally, via the EMIS platform – a central system that already integrates many educational processes. Digitalization makes applications faster, simpler, and more transparent, while simultaneously reducing the administrative and corruption risks characteristic of the previous application method.

This year's competition advertised 2,050 positions, for which 2,419 candidates applied. The system allowed applications for multiple positions, which would also be possible in a real environment. A total of 81,390 applications were submitted, electronically and without paperwork, postage, or the risk of later determining that "one paper is missing," stated the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton, following a series of public criticisms of the EMIS system.

Candidates could submit objections to the commission directly through the platform within five days. A total of 7,247 objections were received (8.9% of applications), of which 82.6% were deemed unfounded, and 17.4% were deemed founded, with the commissions making corrections in the verification process.

Digitalization shows that 96.8% of applications are correct, and the accepted objections further increase that percentage. This confirms a high level of digital literacy among candidates, as well as the efficiency of the system.

The most common reasons for rejecting applications include:

• insufficient professional qualifications or failure to meet the general conditions of the profile;

• oversight in entering the graduation date, which is important for calculating seniority, i.e., for points;

• incorrect entry of a document – for example, a child of a demobilized soldier enters a document in the category of child of a martyr/fallen soldier or child of a war military invalid. These differences are significant because they affect scoring according to the regulation governing this area;

• incorrect entry of the period of affiliation with the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina - for example, a candidate's father had interruptions in service in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When applying, the candidate stated that the father was a member of the military continuously from 1992 to 1996, which is not in accordance with the submitted certificate;

• Candidates did not enter the certificate of service in accordance with the Rulebook.

"Since the beginning of the implementation of the competition, we have been facing unfounded demands for its annulment, with the unions being the loudest. This is particularly surprising, because unions should be advocates of equal opportunities for all candidates. It is unclear why they oppose a system that is transparent and reduces the corruption risks present in the previous application method. All claims that this system is bad or dysfunctional are unfounded. At the same time, we continuously note opportunities for improving the process, which is expected during the implementation of any new regulation or model," emphasize the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton.

They remind that the digitalization of education in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been ongoing since 2004, more intensively since 2015, and that the EMIS platform previously introduced e-registers, digitalization of enrollment, creation of annual work programs, the process of managing technological surplus, and, as of this year, the employment process.

"Although every innovation initially provokes criticism, experience shows that digitalized processes bring greater transparency, simplicity, and efficiency," state the relevant ministry.

They also remind that before digitalization, a new Rulebook on Employment was adopted, developed in cooperation with unions, and that digitalization was initiated based on recommendations from the Office for the Fight against Corruption of Sarajevo Canton.

"The digitalization of the competition clearly shows the path towards accessible, equal, and transparent employment, with a significant reduction in administrative and corruption risks," conclude the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton.