Classes started today in six cantons of the Federation of BiH and Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For years, there have been fewer and fewer enrolled students, which affects regional schools the most. The BHRT team visited one such school in Martin Brod, near Bihać, which has only three students. The locals say that if the school closes down, the village will also close down.
The new school year has also started in the Una-Sana Canton. Brothers Saša and Petar and their sister Jana are the only and probably the last students of the district school in Martin Brod. There are no more children in that village and that is what they miss the most.
JANA RODIĆ, a student at the school in Martin Brod
“My brother and I go to this school and I want many, many children here”.
SAŠA RODIĆ, a student at the school in Martin Brod
“I’m Saša, I want there to be more children here. I’d like to have friends, to play football, basketball and everything else. I’m in the second grade.”
In the past, tens of students could be heard shouting from this school, employees recall. Today, teacher Mirela teaches Jana, who is in the third grade, and Saša, who is in the second grade, in the same classroom. Every day she travels 50 kilometers to teach them, and working in these conditions, she says, has its advantages and disadvantages.
MIRJANA MEDIĆ, employee of the school in Martin Brod
“Before, it was completely different, there were a lot of children, and now we are left with a couple of elders and three children. Before 2000, there were 12 to 15 students. My children also ended up here”.
MIRELA PEČENKOVIĆ, teacher at the school in Martin Brod
“I often joke with them that they have like private lessons. The disadvantages are that they are simply deprived of socialization, they are a brother and sister, there are no more children in Martin Brod. When they finish this school, it will be closed”.
Tens of district schools in the Una-Sana Canton have already experienced this fate. This year, the total number of enrolled freshmen is 1,548, which is 120 students less than last year. And 20 years ago there were even 2,000 more.
EDVIN ALIJANOVIĆ, Minister of Education USC
“The decline in the number of enrolled students continues with the trend. It is not a problem only in the Una-Sana Canton. In addition to the departure of families, a significant drop in the birth rate additionally caused this situation. It is difficult for young people to decide on bigger steps, people simply have an insecurity”.
And without children, what are the natural beauties for which Martin Brod is famous for, the locals will say. When the summer is over and the tourists leave, this place falls into a winter sleep.
An unusual school, but it could serve as an example to many in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When there is a will, anything is possible. Locals say that when this school closes, life in Martin Brod will also close.
