This year, in the budget of the Canton Sarajevo (CS), as well as at the level of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), funds are planned for the purchase of textbooks.
“Last year, we acquired textbooks for students from 5th to 9th grade in CS. These textbooks are registered in school libraries and will be used for a few years. We have an agreement with the parents, and based on that agreement, we have given an instruction from the Ministry that parents will pay for textbooks that are lost or damaged. It is true that this year funds of 2.5 million BAM have been provided in the budget for the purchase of textbooks for students from the 1st to the 4th grade of elementary school. Those textbooks will be purchased by the schools and the students will not return them at the end of the school year, because students of that age often have assignments that they do directly in the textbooks,” emphasizes Naida Hota-Muminovic, Minister of Education of CS.
Moreover, we are pleased with the information that we have extended this student standard to the budget of the FBiH so that the funds for this purpose are also provided in the budget of the FBiH. When we get an official confirmation about this, then we will direct any excess funds to the purchase of other library materials, reading materials, and professional literature because whatever we buy and direct to education, will go to the right place, said Minister Muminovic.
Also, parallel to these efforts, together with the Institute for the Development and Pre-University Education of the CS, we are carrying out activities to implement a better textbook policy. In the coming period, we will receive new textbooks, modernly equipped, in physical and digital form.
The procurement of textbooks for elementary school students in the FBiH from 1st to 5th grade, in the amount of 12.8 million BAM, is foreseen in the Budget of the FBiH for 2023. It is about the amendment of NiP, which was accepted as part of the joint amendments of the Eight, and the funds were included in the budget.
In the explanation of the amendment, it was clarified that BiH is facing major demographic challenges, that younger people are leaving the country mostly for socio-economic reasons, including younger families with children of primary school age. Support in the purchase of books is an important message and financial relief for parents in the education of their children, as well as an investment in education and raising student standards.
