Senate adopts SPUS initiative: Students to be given free time for religious rites

At today's session, the Senate of the University of Sarajevo adopted the initiative of the Student Parliament (SPUS) on not holding lectures and exam periods at UNSA faculties on Fridays due to the performance of Friday prayer. When planning the academic year, consideration will also be given to the times of central weekly prayers of members of the Catholic and Orthodox faiths, as well as other religious communities, Patria reports. 

The Senate of the University of Sarajevo, at the initiative of the Student Parliament, unanimously adopted a conclusion aimed at respecting the human rights of members of all religious communities. 

This conclusion recommends that organizational units of the University of Sarajevo, in preparing the academic calendar and other documents regulating the plan and program, activities, teaching and exams, while respecting the right of students and teaching staff of the Islamic faith who study, work and operate at the University of Sarajevo, as well as other public events that include wider groups of students and represent an optional or mandatory part of academic work, training and education, take care not to schedule academic obligations on Fridays, specifically: from 11:45 to 13:00 during the winter time period, i.e., from 12:45 to 14:00 during the summer time period. 

Furthermore, it is recommended that organizational units and teaching staff, in case of scheduling obligations on weekend days, take into account the times of central weekly prayers of members of the Catholic and Orthodox faiths, as well as other religious communities – and not schedule academic obligations during those times.

"In secular states, relations between the state and recognized religious communities are regulated by a contract that prescribes the state's obligations towards those religious communities. For political reasons, Bosnia and Herzegovina has not signed a contract only with the Islamic Community, while this has been done with the other two religious communities. That contract would guarantee all religious rights, not only for students but for all members of the Islamic faith in the state. Since we took over the mandate, we have had justified requests from students to regulate the issue of performing the central prayer, which is a religious obligation and as such a human right. However, we first wanted to contribute to the new, revolutionary Law on Higher Education, address the situation in student dormitories, put students at the center of reforms, the focus of talks with the Government, fully obtain the prescribed autonomy in the Senate and other university bodies, and after successfully doing that, this justified request from a large number of our students came onto our agenda. Accordingly, we submitted an initiative to the Senate to regulate this issue," the SPUS stated.

As the basis for the initiative, they cite: Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, the Law on Freedom of Religion and the Legal Position of Churches and Religious Communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Framework Law on Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on Higher Education of Sarajevo Canton, and the Statute of the University of Sarajevo. 

"We believe that holding classes and exams during Friday prayer (which is a religious obligation for members of the Islamic faith) violated their basic human rights and breached the aforementioned positive legal regulations, because these students must choose between performing a religious obligation and education (acquiring knowledge) for which they enrolled in the faculty. The previous practice, where professors mostly, during Friday prayer, exempted only students of the Islamic faith from lecture obligations, was discriminatory towards members of other religions, as well as towards women – who were obliged to attend lectures, while those who went to Friday prayer were not required to make up that class – and abuses of that right were frequent. On the other hand, some professors, admittedly not a large number, did not take into account these religious rights of students, and even scheduled exams during Friday prayer. Also, breaks in the schedule are common for every teaching day at UNSA, and we are of the opinion that a break in the schedule on Fridays, during Friday prayer, essentially does not change the schedule or the regular conduct of classes at UNSA. The central weekly prayers of other recognized religious communities fall on non-working days, so they have not had problems performing them. However, in practice, it often happens that make-up classes, exam periods, or the fulfillment of other academic obligations are scheduled on weekend days, whereby the times of central weekly prayers are generally not taken into account," the SPUS stated.

The Student Parliament of the University of Sarajevo, as well as the University of Sarajevo, as institutions founded on universal values, expresses a lasting commitment to respecting all human rights, equality, and the fight against all forms of discrimination – which was confirmed by unanimous support for this conclusion.