Inclusive education for children with disabilities is often an obstacle in many education systems around the world. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is particularly hampered by the decentralized system, which is why children with disabilities and their parents feel the greatest impact.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the promise of inclusive education is part of the official education system, enshrined in law, policy, and international commitments. Almost 16 years ago, Bosnia – along with 186 other countries – ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), committing itself to ensuring that children with disabilities learn alongside their peers, with the support they need and without discrimination. But while the legislation proclaims equal access, the lived reality for children with disabilities is starkly different.
Many issues within inclusive education stem from one overarching problem – a fragmented system blocking progress. Expert opinions point to one overarching obstacle in achieving inclusive and accessible education for all: Bosnia’s extreme decentralisation. “The very decentralised system is really tricky to navigate,” explains Jasmine Miller, a PhD researcher specialising in inclusive education. “There isn’t a policy that incorporates all regions, so it’s uneven. There’s bound to be issues with funding and implementing anything because of that fragmentedness.”
Miller highlights a deeper structural issue which further disables the person because you don’t have the access you are entitled to. “Unfortunately, I don’t see enough change in the environment.”
Despite CRPD ratification, BiH still lacks a unified definition of disability, standardised assessment tools, guaranteed funding for inclusive schooling, and up-to-date nationwide statistics. The last representative dataset, the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, dates back to 2011-12. Without contemporary data, Miller asks, “How can you move forward? You need a starting point to plan and hold the data accountable.”
Behind the structural dysfunction are the families who absorb its consequences every day. One parent of a young adult with cerebral palsy described raising a child in a system where inclusion depended almost entirely on her personal sacrifice. The mother explained: “My child cannot do anything on their own. I had to be with them in school every day. I sat in classes, listened to lectures, did homework with them, and supported them every step of the way.”
She recalls moments where genuine inclusion was visible. In high school, her child performed a recitation from Meša novel “Death and the Dervish,” which had an extremely emotional impact on the audience.
“The school did not single my child out. They were treated as an equal.” She explained that this success was not the result of a functioning education system but it has come because she has been working as an unpaid full-time carer. Now, as an adult, her child is still fully dependent on family care. “Their independent future doesn’t exist,” she admits. BiH offers very few long-term care facilities or supported living programs for disabled adults, leaving families to take on the responsibility alone.
On the other hand, teachers are often seen as the frontline implementers of inclusivity. However, many feel unprepared. Đuldina Kurtović, a teacher from Sarajevo’s Third Gymnasium shared that she doesn’t feel adequately trained for working with students with special educational needs. “The present education and training are not enough. Even if there is support from a mobile team, psychologist, and pedagogue, there should be more support provided by detailed training.”
Kurtović described working with students with autism and down syndrome, preparing individual plans and offering extra attention.
However, support for individual children remains inconsistent. Some students had assistants; others did not. These experiences echo findings from World Vision and UNICEF which say that when inclusive education works in BiH, it is due to extraordinary personal effort – not systematic support.
Even within systematic limitations, BiH has examples of inclusive practice that demonstrate what is possible. The story of Lejla Ibrahimi, who was initially placed in a special school despite high cognitive ability shows how small adjustments such as oral exams instead of written ones, adapted learning formats, and a supportive environment changed her trajectory. Today, Lejla is a PHD student in biology. Lejla’s story demonstrates that inclusive education can be built through understanding and flexibility.
In the absence of strong state support, specialised centres play an outsized role in caring for both children and adults with disabilities. At the Zenica-Doboj Canton Centre for Children and Adults with Special Needs, coordinator Meldina Ugarak describes a system built around early intervention services, individualised programs, multidisciplinary therapy, and occupational training to promote independence. But even these centres face structural limits. “Most systems are enforced as projects,” she says, adding “Whatever is tested stays – but no one researches whether it is good or bad. Schools still operate like they did 30 years ago.”
She highlights a long history of policy delay: inclusion law was drafted in 2004, but regulations explaining how to implement it arrived a decade later. School assistants only became available in schools in the last three to four years. “It’s progress,” she notes, “but much too little, too late.”
All of this shows that BiH has the legal framework for inclusive education, but not the systematic commitment. Children with disabilities succeed when individuals compensate for what the system lacks, not because of support from the system. Yet, there is hope – in dedicated teachers, resilient families, specialised centres, and the powerful stories of inclusion done right. If BiH truly intends to honour its CRPD obligations, as well as other acts related to inclusion and equal education for all, it must transform inclusion from an aspiration into lived reality. That begins with listening to the everyday experiences of children, teachers, and families.
