FROM: Vince Costa, Assistant to the Director Michel Rakotomanana, UNICEF/School of Education Program in BiH TO: Participants to the January Bosnia-Herzegovina Meeting RE: Review Summary of Meeting at School of Education DATE: February 1, 1996 ___________________________________________________________ Following up on our memo of 23 Janurary, we are pleased to attach the final draft summary of the meeting that took place at the University of Pittsburgh on January 18, 1996 concerning the future development of the UNICEF/School of Education program in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Many thanks for your comments to the first draft and for attending the meetings. Seth Spaulding, IISE Director Rita Bean, Associate Dean, School of Education Room FQ 5T23 Mimi Bishop-Coffey, Tenenbaum Foundation Fax: (212) 891-7601 Lynn Cohen, Program Coordinator, BiH Program E-mail: Robert Donnorummo, Associate Director, Center for Russian and East European Studies, University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh Room FQ 4E24 Rob Fuderich, UNICEF Program Officer for BiH E-mail: Noreen Garman, Professor, School of Education Room FQ 5P38 Esther Gottlieb, Adjunct Faculty, School of Education Luke Hingson, President, Brother's Brothers Foundation, Pittsburgh Fax: (412) 321-3325 Burkart Holzner, Director, University Center for International Studies Room FQ 4G40 Sean Hughes, Professor, School of Education (Educational Planning Group) Room FQ 5M34 Von E. Keairns, Executive Director, Arsenal Family and Children's Center Arsenal Family & Children's Center 3939 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15025 Bill Lafe, Consultant, Member, Board of Trustees Arsenal Family and Children's Center 1000 N. Sheridan Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15206 Maureen McClure, Professor School of Education E-mail: Matt McMullen, Assistant Director, International Business Center E-mail: Ken Metz, Dean, School of Education Room FQ 5T23 Eluned Roberst-Schweitzer, The World Bank, Bosnia Education Project Fax: (202) 522-3233 Dennison Rusinow, Professor, Center for Russian and East European Studies, University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh Room FQ 4G14 Emily Vargas-Baron, Director, Center for Human Capacity Development USAID, Washington (DC) Fax: (703) 875-4346 UNICEF/SCHOOL OF EDUCATION PROGRAM IN EDUCATIONAL POLICY, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT FOR NATIONAL RENEWAL IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (BiH) SCHOOL OF EDUCATION INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN EDUCATION (IISE) UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES PROGRAM MEETING SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, JANUARY 18, 1996 MORNING SESSION (9:30 am - 1:00 pm): __________________________________________________________________ Attending: Rita Bean Associate Dean, School of Education Mimi Bishop-Coffey Tenenbaum Foundation, New York, NY Lynn Cohen Program Coordinator, BiH Program Vince Costa Assitant to the Director, IISE Rob Fuderich UNICEF Program Officer for BiH Noreen Garman Professor, School of Education (Active Learning Group) Esther Gottlieb Adjunct Professor, School of Education (Active Learning Group) Luke Hingson President, Brother's Brothers Foundation, Pittsburgh Burkart Holzner Director, University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh Sean Hughes Professor, School of Education (Educational Planning Group) Von E. Keairns Executive Director, Arsenal Family and Children's Center Bill Lafe Consultant, Member, Board of Trustees Arsenal Family and Children's Center Matt McMullen Assistant Director, International Business Center, Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh Ken Metz Dean, School of Education Michel Rakotomanana Program Administrator, BiH Program Eluned Roberst-Schweitzer The World Bank, Bosnia Education Project Seth Spaulding Director, IISE and Director of BiH Program Emily Vargas-Baron Director, Center for Human Capacity Development, USAID, Washington (DC) _____________________ The purpose of the meeting was to review the ongoing UNICEF/School of Education Program in Educational Policy, Planning, and Development for National Renewal in BiH, and to explore ways of working together with other international agencies, organizations and other parties interested in the reconstruction of the educational system in BiH. Rita Bean, Associate Dean of the School of Education welcomed the participants on behalf of the Dean and emphasized the School's support and interest in the BiH Program. She also expressed her satisfaction to see the number of faculty members involved in the Program. Seth Spaulding, IISE Director and Director of the BiH Program opened the meeting with a welcoming address. He pointed out to the increasing involvement of IISE in educational issues relating to nations in crisis and/or in transition as evidenced by ongoing and projected programs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, China, Laos, Mongolia. He also referred to the USAID-funded IISE Program on Global Information Network in Education which is intended to supplement and suport the Institute's educational program worlwide, especially the UNICEF/School of Education Program in BiH. GINIE will focus on BiH first and will expand to other geographic areas. He reiterated IISE's invitation to other prospective partners to work together in BiH. Rob Fuderich, UNICEF Program Officer in BiH reviewed UNICEF's activities in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, especially in BiH. He indicated that UNICEF's program in BiH was initiated in 1993 and concentrated essentially on the provision of emergecy assistance. In the education sector, this assistance consisted mainly in the provision of teaching materials, psychosocial and mine awareness programs. He reviewed some of the major problems affecting children since the out-break of the war. These include the threat of land mines; destroyed school buildings and infrastructure; the difficult working conditions of teachers - including shortage in humanpower, lack of funds to pay teachers, shortage and/or lack of teaching materials, lack of libraries, and psychological trauma and stress due to the war - ; and the increasing number of children showing signs of psychological problems. Rob Fuderich pointed out that since the begining of its activities in BiH, UNICEF has also moved into areas of policy studies in the education sector, as reflected for example in the UNICEF/IISE sector study conducted in October 1994. In cooperation with the School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, UNICEF has also been increasingly involved in assisting children in primary education. Some of the educational issues that now need to be addressed are: payment of teachers' salary; teacher certification - many of today's teachers are volunteers and need training (10,000 untrained teachers) -; psychosocial programs to address children's trauma; school repairs and reconstrution; production of school materials; identification of the needed kinds of teaching materials. In addition, to insure the sustainability of future educational efforts, there is a need to look into issues of long-term educational planning at national, cantonal and municipal level. Many staff members lack training and may leave for various reasons. Seth Spaulding gave a brief review on how the University of Pittsburgh became involved with BiH. Following the sector review by Rob Fuderich and himself an agreement was arranged for the University to be the UNICEF implementing partner in the reconstruction of the educational system in BiH.In January of 1995 Lynn Cohen, Michel Rakotomanana, and Bev Marcinizyn traveled to Bosnia to assess the set-up of an office in Bosnia. Lynn Cohen continued on in Bosnia and set-up an office in Zenica. Due to the on-going conflict faculty and graduate student travel was limited in 1995. Seth Spaulding pointed out to the School of Education's commitment to address the issues discussed in the 1994 report and briefly reviewed the ongoing involvement of faculty members and graduate students from the School. The major ongoing and projected initiatives under the BiH Program are: "Policy, Planning and Administration: Management for Renewal" (ongoing); "Teacher Development for Educational Renewal" (ongoing); "Content, Methods and Materials: Innovation for National Renewal" (being formed); and "Non-Formal Education: Youth and Family Development for National Renewal" (being formed). Lynn Cohen noted the role of schools at the heart of nation building and society building. She also emphasized the role of schools as a means to provide normalcy for both children and teachers. Thus there is a great need to stress the development of education at this stage. The development of education programs are based on input from the Republic Ministry of Education and the Republic Institute. The program was initiated in Zenica and more recently another office was opened in Tuzla. Three aims for education reconstruction are: the physical reconstruction of schools; human resource development concerning the type of teacher and how to train; and address the loss of material and knowledge base (loss of libraries and educational materials, lack of communication of teachers and children with outside world - exchange letter program initiated and GINIE could provide a means of communication). Relationships and contacts have been strengthen in Sarajevo, Zenica, and Tuzla and an effort will be made to establish contacts and a long-term relationship with Bihac in 1996. Lynn Cohen stressed the need to: push communication beyond the repair of schools; address teacher quality; change the instructional methodology due to the lack of teaching materials and accommodate psycho-social support for the children; and use of the active-learning methodology since it relies on educational resources from the environment. She also noted that the experience at the Mostar training program on active-learning brought together teachers from different political views to address non-political concerns. By focusing on the technical aspect, the different factions were able to work together. Emily Vargas-Baron recommended this experience as a case-study on this approach. Lynn Cohen reviewed the development of the educational centers at Tuzla and Zenica. With possible AID money available for UNICEF, development of the educational centers could be furthered. Emily stressed the need to prepare a well conceptualized plan for the centers. Seth indicated that the centers are flexible and participant based so that they can better serve the canton/community. Other participants were also given an opportunity to introduce themselves, the activities of their respective organizations and in the case of faculty members, the nature of their involvement in the BiH Program . In particular, Luke Hingson (Brother's Brothers) introduced his organization's present and projected involvement in BiH, including the provision of emergency assistance such as medical supplies, clothing, food. He indicated that he plans to do a field visit to BiH in February and would be happy to network with the UNICEF/School of Education Program. Burkart Holzner, Director of the University Center for International Studies (University of Pittsburgh) reviewed the ongoing activities of his Center, especially with regard to Eastern Europe, and expressed his support to the BiH Program. Sean Hughes, Professor at the School of Education provided a brief overview of the activities undertaken under the Program in the area of educational planning and referred in particular to a seminar conducted by John Yeager, Chair of the Department of Administrative aind Policy Studies (School of Education) in Zenica in October 1995. He also referred to future plans including a series of additional seminars and follow-up activities to be conducted in BiH in the Spring and Summer of 1995. The seminar will involve educators from the national Ministry of Education and from the canton. The intention is to train a core group of planners that would train others. A difficutly will be the identification of participants who would carry on the work done through the seminar. Rob Fuderich indicated that there is a high rate of turn-over among public administrators and that this trend is likely to accelerate in the near future. Noreen Garman introduced the activities of the group of faculty members and graduate students working on the teacher development component of the Program. These include the production of a training manual in active learning and the preparation of a plan of action for additional teacher in-service training in BiH. Esther Gottlieb introduced a draft proposal for a Teacher Education Reform Program and emphasized that a reform of teacher education including the up-grading of the skills and qualification of the teaching force, is a key point of insertion for the reconstruction of education in BiH. Emily Vargas-Baron presented the various departments and activities of the Center for Human Capacity Development of USAID in Washington, with special reference to its interest in education and training. She pointed out in particular to her agency's involvement in educational policy and planning, early childhood, adult literacy, primary education and new educational technology. She also referred to other areas of interest such as workforce development and training and higher education. With reference to BiH, she emphasized the urgency of developing rational plans for an integrated and meaningful educational reconstruction, given the number of agencies and organizations that will take part in this effort. Emily Vargas-Baron commended the Program's strategy in strengthening the Education Centers in BiH and indicated that such an approach is most likely to foster collaboration among stakeholders is is also likely to insure the multiplier effect of future educational interventions. Von Kearns introduced the activities of the Arsenal Family and Children Center, especially with regard to young children. Mimi Bishop-Coffey reviewed her organization's involvement in such areas as human rights - e.g. in South Africa; and Inter-Religious issues - e.g BiH and indicated an interest in expanding their activities in the region. All participants expressed their interest in exploring ways of working together in BiH. AFTERNOON SESSION: (1:30 - 4:30 pm) _________________________________________________________________ Attending: Mimi Bishop-Coffey Tenenbaum Foundation, New York, NY Lynn Cohen Program Coordinator, BiH Program Vince Costa Assitant to the Director, IISE Robert Donnorummo Associate Director, Center for Russian and East European Studies, University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh Rob Fuderich UNICEF Program Officer for BiH Miki Fukuhara Program Officer, Program on Global Information Network in Education (GINIE) Noreen Garman Professor, School of Education (Active Learning Group) Esther Gottlieb Adjunct Professor, School of Education (Active Learning Group) Luke Hingson President, Brother's Brothers Foundation, Pittsburgh Sean Hughes Professor, School of Education (Educational Planning Group) Von E. Keairns Executive Director, Arsenal Family and Children's Center Sera Keriaku Program Officer, Program on Global Information Network in Education (GINIE) Bill Lafe Consultant, Member, Board of Trustees Arsenal Family and Children's Center Maureen McClure Professor, School of Education and Director, Program on Global Information Network in Education (GINIE) Michel Rakotomanana Program Administrator, BiH Program Eluned Roberst-Schweitzer The World Bank, Bosnia Education Project Dennison Rusinow Professor, Center for Russian and East European Studies, University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh Seth Spaulding Director, IISE and Director of BiH Program Patrick Tse Program Officer, Program on Global Information Network in Education (GINIE) Emily Vargas-Baron Director, Center for Human Capacity Development, USAID, Washington (DC) _______________________ GINIE Presentation: The afternoon session began with a presentation and a demonstration on the Global Information Network in Education by Maureen McClure. She described GINIE as a multi-channel information network to collect, analyze and disseminate educational information for educators worldwide. It is an on-line repository of information on education in nations in crisis, as well as a service provider, linking materiasl and past experiences rapidly and efficiently. She emphasized the global nature of GINIE as well as its "pro-active" and "inter-active" nature as opposed to traditional means of educational database. This was followed by a demonstration of how to access GINIE. Seth Spaulding indicated that the USAID funding is for a year and that efforts will be made to seek other sources of funding and/or to insure GINIE's self-sufficiency. Emily Vargas-Baron expressed her satisfation at the early result of the GINIE program and indicated that she is looking forward to the integration of the GINIE and the BiH Programs. Perpectives on Future Cooperation in BiH: Introducing the activities of USAID, Emily Vargas-Baron indicated that along with such agencies as USIA, her agency is now faced with a major budgetary constraint which led to a drastic reduction in its sub-contrating activities. Funds for development assistance have been dramatically reduced and the release of future funds in the near future will be subject to strict scrutiny by the Senate. Because of these trends, it is of the utmost importance and urgent to develop a coherent and integrated plan for the reconstruction of education in BiH. Such coherence is crutial for the approval of the fundings. Education remains the most efficient vehicle for maintaining peace and stability in BiH. It is also essential to rapidly develop a "vision" of what education in BiH should be in the future. Emily Vargas-Baron emphasized that the development such plans have to be fully participatory and collaborative. Emily Vargas-Baron indicated that her agency is particularly interested in issues of Policy Planning, Donor Coordination, Educational Materials, Support to Educational Centers; Information Management Systems; and Sector Studies. She indicated that for future USAID projects in BiH, it is of the utmost importance to include clear ways and means of assessing/evaluating the outcomes of the project as well as for maintaining accountability. With regards to GINIE the positive outcomes and products are already clearly visible through the Internet. She also suggested that:  there is a need for another coordination meeting, perhaps in Washington, that would include for example the European Community representative. Where needed, she could facilitate such contacts. Other prospective partners are the Norwegians; with regard to the ongoing UNICEF/School of Education Program, it will be useful to organize a Human Capacity Develpment (HCD) Forum in Washington, toward the end of February, to facilitate further collaboration with USAID; a HCD Forum on GINIE would also be useful to demonstrate the work accomplished so far. Emily Vargas-Baron indicated that USAID will contribute $ 3 million for education, which is to be spent within the next six months. Emily Vargas-Baron and Mimi Bishop-Coffey emphasized the importance of coordination among agencies and organizations operating in BiH. Eluned Roberts-Schweitzer (The World Bank) introduced the current and projected activities of the Bank in BiH. She mentionned that BiH is not yet a member of the Bank, although membership is anticipated shortly. The Bank has been activley involved in preparing a priority reconstruction program for BiH. Priority needs for this program are estimated at US $ 5.1 billion over the next three to four years, of which about US $ 2.1 billion are needed the first year. A range of projects are being prepared with the government in the social sectors (as well as other sectors). They include education, health, war victims de-mining and social safety net projects. There are at present two sources of funds from the Bank for BiH. A Trust Fund of US$125 million to be given at IDA terms for BiH has been set up out of Bank surplus, and an additional US$ 25 million in grant money will be made available. The World Bank will now have an office in Sarajevo which will facilitate coordination and collaboration of programs with other donors, agencies and NGOs already in the field. Eluned Roberts-Schweitzer emphasized the importance the Bank gave to such collaboration in order to maximize and expedite the much needed reconstruction programs and thanked the University of Pittsburgh for the opportunity of learning about the ongoing program in collaboration with USAID and UNICEF. Luke Hingson (Brother's Brothers) indicated that he will travel to BiH the second week of February. He would like a meeting with IISE next week to discuss possible ways of working together. Luke Hingson has plans to meet with the BiH Permanent Secretary in Education, S. Dizdar on January 30. Seth Spaulding concluded by thanking the participants for their contribution in making the meeting a very fruitful session. He asked participants to stay in touch with each other. IISE will also make individual follow-ups on the outcomes of the conference and to keep the participants informed on future developments.