Thank you very much for the opportunity to address you on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of theCatholicSchoolCenter in Sarajevo.
Since my arrival to BiH I have repeatedly stressed the importance of education for the future of this country. A well-managed education system that uses effective, modern teaching methods to prepare a new generation to face numerous challenges of globalisation and the contemporary world is not a luxury, but a necessity for BiH to prepare itself for further integration with the rest of Europe.
I believe that all of us agree that education is a key to the whole process of economic, social and political recovery and reform in this country.
Coming from a country of the European Union, where the respect of common and specific identities of its numerous countries and nations is one of its core values, I am very interested in the work of this Center, which is a good example of how schools in BiH can be organised to reconcile two different priorities of education: preserving and developing one’s own identity while promoting the common identity, as well as mutual understanding and trust between different identities.
Standing here today I clearly see that the International Community has many local partners in education reform. You represent thousands of parents, teachers and students around the country who want a modern education system, with efficient teaching in well-run and open-minded schools. And I can assure you that we in the IC are committed to working with you.
I would like to urge you to use this decade-long experience and the good practices of the Catholic School Center in Sarajevo , and continue promoting universal values such as respect, tolerance, trust and understanding, that all your centers in BiH should be a cradle for.
And let me finish with a quotation from Benjamin Franklin: “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest”.
Education is an investment in the future of our children and in the future of our countries.
As the war in BiH showed, when people lose everything in a material sense, they can never be deprived of their education. So we should make sure that all children of BiH are given access to a high-quality, modern, European and future oriented education.
Thank you