Daniel Bronkal, director of the Caritas Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina, talked about the project “Preschool education for all children – PEACH”, which includes the work of the first preschool bus in BiH.
Written by: Đorđe Krajišnik
Activities related to the Traveling Kindergarten are implemented within the PEACH Caritas Switzerland project and are implemented in cooperation with the public institution “Children of Sarajevo” (DS). The goal is to make preschool education accessible to all children from more remote rural areas and marginalized groups. Through this program, children will develop additional skills, and the development of interest in learning and research will be enabled through play and structured activities.
Bus as a kindergarten
– Such activities need promotion, and must not only depend on the existence of infrastructure. The preschool bus, a pilot activity, was very well received by children and parents. Of course, the current pandemic has created certain problems for us in the realization of the project. We must follow strict rules, distance and hygiene. The number of children in the preschool bus has been reduced from 20 to 10. All measures in terms of health and hygiene are applied as in other kindergartens, without distinction. The bus will be owned by DS and will be treated like any other preschool. If they decide to close all kindergartens due to the worsening of the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the bus will not be an exception either. As for the change of government in Sarajevo Canton, that is a general problem. We hope to talk to the new government and ministry soon. It will be the fourth or fifth minister since we launched this project in 2018. It does not make things easier for us, project implementation and work with a partner, Bronkal said.
Speaking about the concept of the preschool bus project, the director of Caritas Switzerland in BiH stressed that Caritas Switzerland has allocated funds, together with the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Sarajevo Canton, for procurement and subsequent installation. After that, the bus was converted into a kindergarten with the full function of a traveling kindergarten. A team of experts is involved to make the traveling kindergarten work.
- It is estimated that there will be 20 children at a time, but due to the current pandemic we had to reduce the number to 10. The bus now fully functions as a kindergarten and is currently used exclusively in the Sarajevo Canton. We have just started and we are very pleased with how the project is being implemented and how it has been accepted by parents, children and the public. One of the main issues that remains is the issue of ownership. The bus is not owned by Caritas Switzerland. From the very beginning, it was agreed in the legally binding Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry and the Public Institution DS that after the transition period, they will take over the vehicle and also cover all accompanying operational and personnel costs. Unfortunately, the bus is currently idle because DS does not have enough funds for its operation. We hope that the Cantonal Government will make a decision to allocate sufficient financial resources to ensure that the traveling kindergarten can be used again. Otherwise, we will have to take it back from the Ministry and the DS, and if that happens, we will use it in other parts of BiH.
Bronkal emphasizes that preschool education still needs more attention and improvement in BiH. More hours of compulsory (and free) pre-school education need to be promoted than currently envisaged. Our project advocates for parents and public institutions for the importance of including children in compulsory preschool education, as well as for investing in the necessary infrastructure.
We should also invest in the professional development of kindergarten teachers and improve their capacities with the applicable teaching standards. Authorities must be involved in the promotion of pre-school education and emphasize to parents how important this is for their children’s cognitive development. Within this project, we work closely with the DS, the Pedagogical Institute and the Ministry in order to improve the learning process. Furthermore, it is important that the authorities ensure equal access to pre-school education for all children, regardless of their economic status or ethnicity. We know we may not succeed 100%, but it is important to work in this direction. Sometimes it is up to the parents, although pre-school education is compulsory, and sometimes it is just a lack of institutions.
It is not always a question of sufficient funding but of how investment is directed. Sometimes cumbersome government structures slow down development that will ultimately harm the development of BiH children in the future. In addition, the repeatedly re-elected cantonal government and the constant dismissal of ministers (not only in education) lead to a constant limbo in urgently needed decision-making. Or already concluded agreements get revoked.
Dealing with the already existing problems
Caritas Switzerland has been present in BiH for many years, so we asked Bronkal how he sees the role of the organization he heads today.
– We started working in BiH more than 25 years ago, after the end of the war. We started with housing and emergency projects, and now we are working on longer-term development projects in the field of agriculture, sustainable livelihoods, social inclusion, e.g., Roma, energy efficiency and renewable energy and of course education. Local actors from government and civil society play an important and crucial role in all our activities and projects. Local civil society organizations play an important role for us. For them, these times are challenging not only because they have limited financial resources. The self-perception needs of many of them need to shift from providing services to the international community to becoming confident advocates who represent the needs of their target groups.
BiH really needs a strong civil society sector, especially given the complex situation. Although we have our annual budget, Caritas Switzerland is a relatively small humanitarian and development actor in BiH. But we are here and we have not closed our presence here like many others because we feel we are still needed.
Many citizens in BiH are unaware that a lot of Bosnian public funds are being invested in emergency and development projects across the country. They can come from municipal authorities, but also from cantonal, entity or state ministries. As in many other countries, corruption remains widespread in BiH. But the problem with this is not always abuse or embezzlement, as some may assume. Sometimes public institutions simply do not have the right capacity and knowledge on how to make appropriate use of available resources. Caritas Switzerland and its local partners support many public authorities in their improvement in order to better provide services and support to the people of BiH.
BiH citizens are often negative when talking about local public or government institutions.
But when you look at the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, it was not as bad as in some other countries and the authorities responded quite quickly at the beginning.
In October 2020, we had municipal elections with newly elected councilors and mayors, and we will see what they will do now. If they do not show results, even more people will leave the country, and that could break the economy because there will be no one left to work. BiH has lost so much of its population over the past 25 years because a large number have gone abroad, e.g., left BiH and started working in nursing homes. The lack of skilled and unskilled workers in BiH is already becoming a problem in some sectors of the local economy. If the government and local authorities do not take appropriate measures, BiH could turn into a country of retired people, mobsters and Wahhabis. Civil society must work with government institutions to address these issues on behalf of its target groups.
Touching on the ubiquitous issue of a pandemic with all the challenges, the director of Caritas Switzerland in BiH says that the organization he leads does everything to provide support to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Our team is currently still working from home. We respect all epidemiological measures. The situation is not ideal for an organization like ours, but health and safety of our team, our partners and our target groups come first. We will observe the situation, but for now most of us work from home, Bronkal concluded.
