Several thousand fewer students enrolled in the universities of Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past years and the trend continues in the 2017/2018 academic year, according to the official year-on-year statistics.

The Statistics Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina said that the number of students in the ongoing academic year is 83,027, which is by more than 6,000 less than in the 2016/2017 academic year. Over the past five years, the number of students per academic year reduced by more than 19,000.

Statistics show that students are leaving for studies abroad.

According to Amer Osmic, of the Sarajevo Faculty of Political Sciences, the crucial factor behind this issue is “elementary insecurity in every social segment” in the country.

“This is no longer about the employment segment, but about literally every segment where a young person cannot and does not see a perspective of improvement for the next five to 10 years…,” said Osmic.

The situation is equally alarming in both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Republika Srpska (RS), Serb-dominated entity, records a high number of high school graduates leaving abroad for education.

Competent ministries, on the other hand, say they are encouraging the youth to stay and study in the country.

“Students in the RS pay the lowest price for education, accommodation and food in the region. The 2018 budget stipulates 4.8 million of Bosnian Marks (approx 2.4 million Euros) for food and accommodation. Some two million was planned for student scholarships in the RS,” said the RS Ministry of Education and Culture.

A recent graduate with degrees in psychology and genetics, Almir Aljevic, said for N1 that he had to leave after the graduation because he would not be able to do science and to make a living by doing that.

Aljevic does not think the universities in Bosnia lack theoretical education but the problem emerges when trying to implement that theory in practice.