We will soon mark, for the first time, the International Day of Remembrance for the Genocide in Srebrenica on July 11th, following the adoption of the Resolution by the United Nations General Assembly. Minister of Education and Science of the Federation of BiH Jasna Durakovic, discusses how much children are learning about recent history and how to improve the quality of the educational system in the Federation of BiH.

The minister began by speaking about the importance of nurturing a culture of remembrance, especially regarding the genocide in Srebrenica, and the ministry's efforts in that direction.

“It is very important to cherish and nurture a culture of remembrance, but also to live it. This has been the policy we have been promoting all these months, and we have tried, in line with all other regulations and what is missing in the educational system, to cover the topic of the culture of remembrance – how we protect the state, historical truth, and whether we educate children enough. I think not, but this is one way to raise awareness,” she emphasized.

She also called on the students to engage more with this topic, suggesting activities such as visiting the Potocari Memorial Center or other memorial centers or monuments to innocent victims of the war, participating in educational programs, and other activities to learn about the culture of remembrance.

The minister highlighted that this is the only way towards reconciliation and building a better society and its progress.

Regarding how the educational system treats the recent war and how it should treat it to promote a culture of remembrance rather than differences and divisions, she said.

“Exactly like this, a radical change in terms of reforms, curricula that are implemented in all 10 cantons in the Federation of BiH, is necessary. It is absolutely insufficient that this topic is covered in half a page in the 9th grade. I think it should be discussed as early as the 3rd grade when children are mature enough to understand what happened in the past. We cannot run away from the truth; we have confirmations from international courts, and the Resolution has elevated everything to a higher level,” Durakovic stressed.

Adopting the Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide at the UN General Assembly was a big step towards ending destructive policies, Durakovic believes, adding that they will eventually be extinguished “under various pressures.”

“There is no room for this way of division in this country if we want progress. It is not in our interest for people to leave, for the quality of the educational system to decline. We must work together on this,” she concluded.

Finally, she expressed hope in the younger generations, who should be given a chance.

“Because you have a retrograde concept of wrong policies that have been propagated for 27 and more years, ethno-national policies that nurture this kind of division. We need to give a chance to younger people and politicians who have broader worldviews, who have seen the world and been exposed to different cultures, to promote these concepts to us, not these ethno-national divisions. It is high time for people and the nation to become aware; they have the opportunity now in the elections,” she added.