Diversities should be cherished and not used for ethnic-based division of pupils, said Head of Bosnia's office of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Bruce Berton, at a launch of OSCE's report on segregation in Bosnian schools on Monday.

“A system that divides children and incites differences is producing the children who believe the others are different than they are. It should be the other way around,” Berton was quoted as saying.

He stressed that ‘two schools under one roof’ was supposed to be a temporary measure and that today it is unacceptable.

Two schools under one roof is a practice established in schools in the areas inhabited by the Bosniaks and the Croats, two major ethnic groups in Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) entity, where students are physically separated and attend classes in line with two different curricula.

The system emerged in the early 1990s and is attributed to the Bosniak-Croat conflict. Imposed by the international community as a temporary solution to establishing an education system which would be acceptable to everyone back at that time, this segregational form of education is still active.

The international community has no mandate to a annul it now and they urge Bosnian authorities to put an end to this practice.

According to the OSCE’s report, 56 such schools are still active across the country.

“This is the most evident example of how the youth is manipulated in this country in favour of ethnic-nationalist policies,” said Berton, calling on Bosnian authorities to find a long-term solution to this issue.

The OSCE Mission’s goal is to get the children closer because the current system is continuously separating them and emphasising their diversities, he added.

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