: Reimagining education in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Resident Coordinator Blog #IndiaNEWS #International As the Transforming Education Summit kicks off on Friday, during the opening week of the 77th

Reimagining education in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Resident Coordinator Blog #IndiaNEWS #International
As the Transforming Education Summit kicks off on Friday, during the opening week of the 77th UN General Assembly session in New York, Ingrid Macdonald, the UN Resident Coordinator in Bosnia-Herzegovina, reflects on the important progress that the United Nations has made in supporting the authorities efforts to advance more equitable and inclusive education across the country.

“When I was first appointed as United Nations Resident Coordinator two and a half years ago, it was clear to many that beyond the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the education system was managing complex and longstanding obstacles, including a highly decentralised education sector, outdated infrastructure, and decreasing numbers of students.
These obstacles were contributing to educational challenges across the country. For example, in 2018, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessment found that 15-year-old students from Bosnia and Herzegovina were well below the reading, mathematics, and science proficiency of the (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) OECD average, even though there is relatively high spending per student relative to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

UNICEF BiH/Adnan Bubalo
Ingrid Macdonald, UN Resident Coordinator in Bosnia-Herzegovina

From crisis to opportunity
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the learning of more than 400,000 students across Bosnia and Herzegovina which brought these challenges to light. Yet, it also gave the UN a once-in-a-generation opportunity to support the authorities with educational reform across the country.
As the pandemic unfolded in 2020, the United Nations agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina came together to prioritize education as a focus of our COVID-19 recovery efforts. A quick needs assessment in March-April 2020 by the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) and the UN education, culture, and science agency (UNESCO) was the basis for framing a United Nations education recovery programme.
The cornerstone, a joint project, was launched under the leadership of UNICEF and UNESCO, in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UN Volunteers (UNV), called ‘Reimagine Education for Marginalized Boys and Girls during and post COVID-19’.
The project was one of only 18 projects globally to receive support from the United Nations Secretary-General’s COVID-19 Recovery Fund, and the only one that focused on the education sector. More importantly, this project was a catalyst for reinforcing United Nations support to the authorities to strengthen cooperation among government ministries, improve teaching capacities, modernize ICT equipment, and develop new digital learning platforms.