In our country, history depends on the views of individuals, not on facts that are clear and settled. Education, as an important segment, is threatened by attempts to impose messages that are not true. Few people care about this because the competent institutions are mostly occupied with other problems. Significant omissions are passing under the radar. In one of the atlases used by students in our country, the Brčko district is shown on the political-geographical map of Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the RS entity. Printed last year, it passed without institutional control. And those responsible, as is usually the case, are not there this time either.
Attitudes based on wishes, narratives that can be dangerous. Especially when something that is not there goes unnoticed and classified as unimportant. In the atlas used by children in primary and secondary schools in our country, the Brčko district is not separate but part of RS, at least judging by the graphic representation.
“One is a textbook, the other is a teaching aid. In the case of a teaching aid, it is the Atlas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is used in our schools, primary schools. Maybe in secondary schools too, I haven’t checked that yet,” says Vahidin Preljević, a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy at UNSA.
The Atlas was created in 1998, before the official decision on the status of the Brčko District. But the latest edition was published last year. Is this an intentional mistake or negligence on the part of those in charge?
“The ministry – to what extent it is directly to blame for this – I wouldn’t go into that, but it is responsible for modernizing all these textbooks and for the criteria for creating and writing these textbooks to be much stricter,” adds Preljević.
In times of serious political issues, there is still a noticeable lack of awareness regarding issues related to education. Modernizing textbooks does not seem to be on the list of priorities, so teachers and professors should offer their students some alternative materials.
In light of the situation, the Federal Administration for Geodetic and Property Affairs has issued its position on the disputed textbook and textbook aid:
“The Federal Administration declares that it did not participate in any way in the creation, preparation, review and printing of the atlas in question, nor did it give prior consent for its content.”
The Federal Administration has created an official map of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, they say, was approved for use in primary and secondary schools by the Federal Ministry of Education and Science. However, they point out that they did not participate in the atlas approval procedure and draw attention to the following:
“The Ministry continuously advocates respect for the constitutional and legal order of Bosnia and Herzegovina in all educational materials. We consider all incorrect content in textbooks unacceptable and harmful, as it can have a negative impact on education and understanding of the real socio-political context by children and young people.”
Who is responsible? On the surface, this question is of a graphic nature, but the real problem lies precisely in these harmless errors. The borders of countries become seemingly unstable due to someone’s carelessness, as well as lack of intervention. Whether it’s all just negligence, coincidence or a deliberate mistake – time will tell, and it’s clear that so far no one is ready to take responsibility for what is marketed to children and young people, Federalna writes.
