Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton annuls kindergarten enrollment results, parents do not need to re-register

(Patria) - Regarding media reports and parental reactions concerning the enrollment of children in preschool institutions via the EMIS system, the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton wishes to inform parents and the public of the following:

It is true that the EMIS system for enrolling children in kindergartens was activated earlier than the previously set and communicated deadline for parents and the public. The preschool institution selection phase on 5.2.2026, instead of at 10:00 AM, began at 08:00 AM.

The Ministry emphasizes that this was an unintentional human error made by the technical center maintaining the EMIS system, and that in this case, there is no question of serious irregularities, abuses, or systemic shortcomings in the kindergarten enrollment process.

The process of enrolling children in preschool institutions has been digitized to ensure complete transparency, equal and lawful access for all children, as well as clear and measurable scoring criteria. Compared to previous practices, which included decision-making by committees without clearly defined criteria and limited appeal options, the new system represents a significant step towards a fairer and more responsible process.

In order to fully protect the principle of equality and parental trust in the system, the Minister of Education of Sarajevo Canton, Naida Hota-Muminović, has made a decision to annul the competition results, i.e., the following competition phases: the preschool institution selection phase, the preschool institution re-selection phase, the preliminary ranking list, the objection submission phase, the objection review phase, and the generation of the final ranking list. We emphasize that parents will not have to go through the registration phase and the documentation verification phase again. The Ministry will inform the public about all the aforementioned phases via its website as soon as possible, with clear and timely public information.

Minister Hota-Muminović will also initiate an investigation within both the technical support and the Ministry itself, in order to determine the circumstances of the error and prevent its recurrence in the future.

The Ministry understands parents' concerns and thanks the public for their interest, with the conviction that the measures taken will ensure a fair, lawful, and transparent enrollment process, in the best interest of children and families in Sarajevo Canton.