The fifth Advisory Board meeting of the Horizontal Facility action “Quality education for all” in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place on 22 October in a hybrid format.

The meeting was opened by Krassimir Nikolov, Head of Section for European Integration, Political, Press and Information of the Delegation of the European Union to BiH and Sarah Keating, Head of the Division for Co-operation and Capacity building of the Council of Europe.

Representatives of beneficiary institutions attended the meeting including ministries responsible for education on entity and cantonal levels, the Department for Education of the Government of Brčko District as well as representative of the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of BiH and the representatives of the civil society organisations, namely the Centre for Educational Initiatives “Step by Step”, the International Association “Interactive Open Schools” and the Foundation “Education in Action”.

In his opening remarks, Nikolov stated that the European Union remains committed to improving education in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “The action has demonstrated it can provide a safe zone to discuss concerns and share experiences in the field of education. This plays an essential role in providing sustainability and building democratic values. It also provides an opportunity for co-operation between different education authorities and is the cornerstone for reforming education in the country”, he said.

As discussed during the meeting, the participation and contribution of civil society in the activities regarding the School network is a valuable asset of the action while the development of the action plan for the implementation of the Policy Recommendations with a Roadmap for Improving Inclusive Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Policy Network remains a high priority for the action in the coming period.

The action “Quality education for all” is a part of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, implemented by the Council of Europe.