Education - ticket to a better life?
By Damir Marjanovic

Several hours ago I received an interesting phone call and invitation which could be described as follows: “Would you be so kind as to prepare an article titled:  Education – ticket to a better life? You should cover the key challenges and possible policy solutions in the area of education and it should not exceed 1,000 words. Oh yes, you have just several days to do it!” My first reaction was: thank you but no thank you! Why? Well, if you want me to explain the key challenges and possible solutions for the Balkan education systems I will need at least 1000 pages and several months to do it properly. Few seconds later, I accepted the challenge, because I am just a typical Bosnian guy and this means that if you ask me to fly a plane tomorrow I will tell you it is impossible only to start looking for a user guide a few seconds later and to enquire as to when and where will my plane be ready the next day.

Since I have already wasted more than 150 words I really need to start now! Do we really know what the term ‘education’ truly means? Looking for an answer, I have decided to start this assignment as any other average 21^st century student would, presenting the most simplified Wikipedia definition. According to this “virtual temple of knowledge” education is the process of simplifying learning. “Knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits of a group of people are transferred to other people, through storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, or research. Any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational”.

Guided by this definition it is easy to conclude that the most important and the primary interest of each state and society in the 21^st century should be a quality and highly applicable education accessible to everyone. Educational curricula and processes have to be based on the learning outcomes, competencies and knowledge, which are sufficiently flexible that it can quickly adapt to the demands of modern times.

Unfortunately, Balkan education systems are everything but this. The system is formally divided into preschool, primary and secondary as well as the so-called higher education, which consists of several university levels (BSc, MSc and PhD) according to the Bologna process. Right now, the formal educational approach is highly dominant in comparison to the informal.

Significant number of different challenges in the region could be recognized within each of these educational levels:

• extremely low percentage of children included in preschool education, especially in rural areas;
• outdated curricula, schoolbook policies, inadequate competencies and outcomes, as well as outdated teaching methods in primary education;
• imbalance between the market demand and ‘production’ of some professions by secondary schools which causes high supply of educational profiles for which there is no demand in the labor market;
• inadequate system for the so-called ‘inclusive education’ or education for students with special needs;
• lack of objective education system evaluation models;
• avoiding international student knowledge evaluation tests altogether (such as PISA test) or non-acceptance of these results as an indicator of the current (dis)advantages of the existing education system;
• scattered, non-efficient and disintegrated adult education framework which fails to reflect the actual needs of labor market represents poor foundation for the future development of lifelong learning model in the region.      

But the most dramatic and visible changes occurred within the higher education systems all over the Balkan countries. Therefore it is not surprising that higher education was in focus for several different studies, conferences and, more or less successful, reforms.

They have all recognized that the most noticeable features of the regional higher education systems are a massive number of students and a growing number of higher education institutions. On the other hand, according to the official EU sources, the EU has been supporting higher education in the Western Balkans with cooperation programs and technical assistance projects for over 20 years now. All ministries have implemented, or are implementing, reforms according to the EU standards.

Why are we then still having an enormous number of unsolved problems in this field? Maybe because our authorities and higher education consumers (students and their parents) simply avoid understanding that:

• education system, especially higher education, is a ‘living organism’; it has to communicate with its environment, it has to be adaptable to changes and it has to produce ‘something useful’, not only a huge number of ‘highly educated people’, but people with beneficial skills and competencies.
• authorities have to harmonize the needs of the country, regional and global labor markets with the education policy. This is the only way to end and in future prevent the present hyper-production of professions for which there is negligible or no demand whatsoever in the labor market.
• students should ask themselves do they need a diploma or some specific university degree only for the sake of it or because of the knowledge behind it? Do they need to go to the university only because everybody does it and what do they really need and expect from it?

Well, let us be honest and admit that education is usually the very first victim of any social and economic disturbance in a society which soon after, if harmed by it, becomes the main reason for further decline of the very same society. Let us be even more honest and confess that this is the exact same situation we have now.

According to the fact from the interesting Slovenian study, in 1990 there were 20 public universities in the region altogether and in 2013 we counted 47 public and around 250 private institutions. So, it is not just about the quantity – it is about the quality! It is about the standards, good teaching process, skillful professors, curricula, competences and skills offered to students, etc.

How can we change this? Just liberate education from daily politics and leave it to experts to develop education policy.

Oh, yes, and remember that education system is an old dog; you cannot teach him new tricks easily in short time. You have to be very patient, persistent and wise with it. Only then will you get the best from it!

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Professor Damir Marjanović is the 40 years old full time professor at Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo and head of the Department for Genetic and Biotechnology at International Burch University Sarajevo. Also he was long term scientific advisor at the Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Sarajevo and he is currently scientific assistant at the Institute for Anthropological researches, Zagreb, Croatia. Between  2012-2013 he was Minister of education and science, Canton Sarajevo. He was also employed as the expert in the field of forensic genetics by OSCE (Kosovo*), European Agency for Reconstruction (Serbia) and International Commission on Missing Persons (Bosnia and Herzegovina). In the 2011 he was awarded as the Scientist of the Year in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His main field of interest is forensic, population and molecular genetics and molecular anthropology. He published 4 books, 8 Book chapters, more than 50 Journal articles and review articles in CC, WOS, SCOPUS journals and more than 110 scientific papers and abstracts in other journals and scientific publications.

Winner of the Round 4, Voice of the Region Competition

Fingers crossed!
Essay by Sonja Budisa Milenkovic, 26 years, Belgrade

It is a hot July morning in the capital of Serbia and I am one of the victims of public transport. Dizzy from the heat and squeezed between unknown people, I am nervously looking at the watch, counting every move of the fastest needle.

Will I make it to the exam on time?

Yes, I am one of around 220 000[1] students in Serbia and though the number seems large at first sight, the statistics show that not all of us reach the final destination: with 6.5% of university graduates, Serbia is considerably below the EU[2] average.  

Few years ago I began my studies with big expectations, encouraged by my family saying: Education is the key to secure life. I was told that with university degree I’m going to get a decent job. This I’ve heard many times; at university during lectures, at home during family lunch, in supermarket waiting in line for cash register. Tiring.

Just like now, when listening an old man criticizing public transport while our bus is stuck in the middle of a crossroad.

During my studies, I became interested in non-formal education. I’ve always admired academic community, but subconsciously knew that there was something missing in the education system. When I started travelling and meeting young people from around Europe, I realized how big a gap there is between education and labour market. At that time, crisis began in Europe, but despite that I was enjoying meeting my international friends, graduates who mostly couldn’t find a proper job. I started collecting their advices, improving my skills through alternative channels of education.

Finally, this bus started to move. Maybe I will make it.

When I graduated with high GPA, I joined 70,539 unemployed[3] persons with university degree in Serbia. I was not disappointed, I was prepared for such an outcome. I watched my colleagues being lost in painful jobless reality for years. I decided to throw myself in turbulent labour market like an inexperienced swimmer trying to survive in deep water.

I didn’t find a safe harbour, but I am still swimming. Handling several part-time jobs. I continued my education with master studies, because I believe in knowledge. Even if formal education didn’t bring me what I expected or was promised, it brought me many values: friendships, memories, motivation, vision, optimism...

The bus is here. I have a minute. Only one minute. Keep fingers crossed!