The research conducted by the KULT Youth Development Institute in cooperation with the Municipality of Modriča , which included 277 young people between the ages of 15 and 30, tells about the challenges faced by young people in Modriča . The focus group held with young people was also an opportunity to discuss in more detail the identified needs of young people and better understand their position. The results of research and the needs of young people regarding education, work and employment, health care, social care, culture and sports, youth activism and security are presented through the Analysis of the position and needs of young people in the municipality of Modriča .
The research and analyzed results of the position and needs of young people, which was carried out in the field by the Institute for Youth Development KULT, is the starting point in the process of creating a youth policy by which the Municipality of Modriča confirmed its commitment to improving the position of young people in its area.
From the analysis, which is the basis for creating a strategic document for young people, we highlight several interesting data:
- In the municipality of Modriča, as in other places, the number of students in primary and secondary schools, as well as the number of students, is decreasing, but when it comes to the enrollment of children in the first grade of primary school, in Modriča, the number of first-graders has been continuously increasing for the last four years. In the 2019/2020 school year. there were 166 freshmen , and in 2022/2023. 187 children were enrolled , that is, 12.6% more . If we look at Republika Srpska, in the same period the number of students enrolled in the first grade was lower by about 2.4% .
- Although the Municipality awards scholarships for secondary and higher education, only 3.6% of respondents declared that they receive a scholarship. At the same time , 13% of the surveyed youth in Modriča gave up further education due to financial reasons .
- The quality of practical teaching is one of the elements that young people evaluate when they think about education, but 35.7% of young people in Modriča pointed out that they did not have practical teaching during their schooling, which had the effect that 62.1% of the respondents assessed that the education they completed was not at all or was very little useful when working in the profession, while 58.2% of the respondents estimated that it did not help them in further education either.
- Employment in the municipality of Modriča is declining, although at the same time the number of employees is increasing in the RS. Almost half of the surveyed young people, 49.5% of them , are unemployed, and 17.8% of respondents who have a job work “on the black” , that is, without a contract with an employer. The good news is that 42.8% of employed youth in Modriča have a work contract for an indefinite period. Almost half of the respondents, 46.9% of them believe that it is best to work in their own company and 44.8% would be willing to start their own business, but do not have the opportunity. In order to be successful entrepreneurs, young people in Modriča need financial as well as mentoring support, business education, legal assistance and help in connecting with the market and customers.
- Most of the young people in Modriča live with their parents. According to the research results, in this BiH. municipality, 59.6% of young people live in an apartment/house owned by their parents. Only 10.8% of Modric residents live in an apartment owned by them or their spouse. 40.1% of young people regularly contribute to the household budget , 17.3% of young people contribute occasionally, and 40.1% of young people do not contribute at all. Most young people (46.2%) rate the financial situation in their household as fairly good, while 11.9% of respondents rate it as very good. Almost a third of the respondents (29.6%) rate their family’s financial situation as bad or very bad.
- Young people in Modriča are not particularly prone to regular systematic health check-ups, so only 48% of them had such a systematic check-up in the last year . Most often, in 57% of cases, young people perform a systematic examination due to work and taking a driving test, while 11.4% of respondents systematically performed it due to playing sports. 11.9% of young people say that they did it systematically on their own initiative because they wanted to be examined, and 10.3% of respondents did it systematically because of health problems and on the recommendation of a doctor.
- Modriča is known as a city of sports and two thirds of young people engage in sports or recreational activities occasionally or regularly, but 33.3% of young people are inactive. This category is dominated by girls and young women, 60.4% of whom are in this group.
- The young people of Modriče want to see more support from local authorities for cultural and sports events in order to create a more dynamic and stimulating cultural and sports scene. They also support and appreciate the government’s efforts to enrich social life with concerts and performances, as well as literary and artistic evenings, and recommend that more cultural events held in Modriča be promoted.
- Young people in Modriča are most often informed via the Internet and television . 63.2% of young people follow internet portals every day, and 23.5% follow television. 22.4% of young people in Modriča listen to the radio every day. Social networks used by young people are dominated by Instagram, which 81.6% of young people use every day. Youtube is used on a daily basis by 72.6% of them, Facebook by 57%, TikTok by 50.5%, and Snapchat by 49.1% of young people.
- Young Modrics are quite mobile and travel abroad, most often as tourists or to visit relatives. They travel during excursions, 6.5% of young people stayed in summer school, 5.1% of respondents went on study trips , 4% of young people went to school in nature , and 10.5% of Modri residents stayed in volunteer and other camps.
- Although the young people of Modriče often and gladly socialize, the membership of young people in civil society organizations and their activism is at a very low level. To the greatest extent, young people are not members of organizations, that is, 79.1% of them say that they are not members of any organization. If they are members of some organizations, they are most often youth organizations (11.9%), political parties (6.9%), or organizations dealing with human rights or humanitarian aid (2.9%).
For more information on the position and needs of young people, see the Analysis of the Position and Needs of Youth in the Municipality of Modriča
The Law on Youth Organization of the Republika Srpska obligates all levels of government of the entity to define, adopt and implement youth policy as a strategy undertaken by the community in order to improve the status of young people. The municipality of Modriča is one of the government institutions that recognized the need to create a strategic document and solve youth problems through the realization of goals and special programs in all areas of interest and importance for young people.
The process of drafting a strategic document for youth in the area of the municipality of Modriča is led by the Coordination and Working Body for Drafting the Youth Policy in cooperation with the Institute for Youth Development KULT.
Source: mladi.org
