The end of the 2012-2013 school year in June will introduce the first generation of students in Bosnia and Herzegovina who will be externally evaluated for knowledge acquisition during their years in junior high school. External evaluations will replace customary entrance exams students were required to take in order to get into a high school of their choice.
This push for external evaluations comes from the European Union. Under its IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) project, “Strengthening the institutional capacity of the preschool, elementary and secondary education,” the EU granted 500,000 euros to BiH to use for this project and its other components: comparative analysis, institutional development, agency networking in EU, and capacity building. The consortium partner in the implementation of this project is the Republic of Slovenia, a former Yugoslav republic and a recent EU member. The Slovenian National institute for education, National examination centre, and Centre for vocational education and training will share their experience and knowledge with Bosnian counterparts and assist the BiH Agency for preschool, middle school and high school education in becoming a totally functional institution, capable of providing quality education in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The external evaluation tests students’ knowledge in five areas: “mother tongue” (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian), main foreign language studied during junior high, math and two elective courses in the field of social and/or natural sciences. Similar to SAT tests in the United States, the exam will be available in various practice editions for students. Preparation documents will catalogue questions from all five fields, so that students can practice and prepare for the actual evaluations. However, the BiH evaluation is more than just a test of students’ knowledge. It is also a form of teacher and curricula evaluation and it will provide insight as to how well schools have followed the curricula and whether any adjustments should be made for the following school year.
Although the introduction of external evaluations is a legal obligation for all ten cantons in the country, only students from Sarajevo Canton will in fact take part in the evaluations this school year.
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