Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina is being financed mostly from the public means of the entity, cantonal, Brčko district and municipality budgets, depending on its jurisdictions. In practise, this means that there are 13 separate budgets for education in Bosnia and Herzegovina: two on entity level, one in Brčko district and ten cantonal budgets.
The system of financing public education institutions, including VET and adult education, is defined by the budget system. All public education institutions are part of the treasury system and are obliged to submit annual financial plans and reports to the competent institution (ministry of education/ local management).
The Framework Law on Secondary Education and Training in Bosnia and Herzegovina (article 19) defines that the founder of the school is obliged to ensure staff, premises, and equipment which shall enable functioning of the school in accordance with the objectives of this law. School funding can be secured from budgets of the local communities (local managements) and other sources.
In the entity Republika Srpska (RS), VET schools founded by the government are financed:
- Out of the budget of RS; (salaries, competitions and part for investments)
- Municipality and city budget (material expenses and fees)
- Other sources (donations, grants, income gained by sale of services or products)
In the entity FBiH, financing education institution (primary, secondary and tertiary education, including VET providers and adult education) is on cantonal budget level. All public education institutions on cantonal level are being directly financed from the budgets of the cantonal ministries of education as part of the ministry of education budget. These budget allocations include all education expenses of the institution – salaries, operational expences and capital costs. Financing through other sources (donations, grants, income gained by sale of services and goods)
In Brčko District, VET schools are being financed from the budget of Brčko District and other sources.
In practise, in BiH, the founder of the school ensures all means for the founding of the school and for its work, in accordance with pedagogical standards and norms and finances the salaries and fees for its employees in continuity, as well as maintaining of the premises, procurement of material and equipment, professional development of the staff, school competitions etc.
In cases when the school makes extra-budgetary profit through re-qualification, VET and adult education, these incomes are paid into the treasury account managed by the Government of RS/local government or cantonal FBiH Government.
WBL in BiH is being implemented in several forms. The most common form is practical education organized in a way that students spend 1-3 days per week during a school year working in a company. The owner of the entire process of education and training is the school and it is responsible for establishing cooperation with the companies and for the training of the students. The students, during their training, do not have employee status and do not receive any remuneration for their work.
The school and company sign a WBL Contract, or in some cases a three-way contract company – school – parent is being signed. In some BiH education systems there are template contracts which all schools use, but in most cases the school and companies create their own individual contracts. From all schools which cooperate with companies, about 80% use contracts, and the rest organize practical training in companies based on Agreements.
