Sarajevo- 16 schools from Bosnia and Herzegovina have been awarded the title of “Super School” this year, and their proposed projects, which will contribute to peacebuilding, reconciliation, and intercultural learning and dialogue within the framework of the Balkans School Exchange Program, were presented today at a public event called “Meet the Superschools,” organized by RYCO and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
In addition to the representatives of the selected schools, the event was attended by Mrs. Aurélie Valtat, Head of the “European Integrations, Politics, Press and Information” Department of the Delegation of the European Union in BiH and the Special Representative of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mrs. Renata Rat, Head of Press, Culture and Protocol, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mrs. Emina Kumrić, Head of the Department for Youth and Mobility, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Mrs. Mimoza Gavrani, Manager of the RYCO Superschools project and acting head of the RYCO local office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Nikola Kandić.
Opening the event, Ms. Aurélie Valtat said that the Superschools topic is something the EU feels strongly about: education and its role in building societies based on tolerance, mutual trust and cooperation thus that education plays a key role in enabling individuals to fulfil their potential, as well as influence our core societal values.
In addition to mobility, the “Superschool” program offers young people the opportunity to connect with their peers from the region, and therefore, Ms. Renata Rat underlines that the Superschools are not only educating the next generation; they are fostering connections that transcend borders and teachers are helping to build a network of trust and reconciliation across the Western Balkans.
Ms. Emina Kumić emphasized that the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina is grateful for the opportunity to support the Superschools project, which focuses on young people as the most important beneficiaries of the project, as well as supporting the mission of RYCO in Bosnia and Herzegovina and contributing to the reconciliation process in the Western Balkans, and Ms. Mimoza Gavrani stated that Symbolic name of this event “Exchange for Change” represents efforts to make Western Balkans societies more resilient to local political challenges
