Primary school years
Despite encouragingly high enrollment rate (97 percent) some indications warn that a significant number of children never complete primary school. Most of them are girls. Also, children with special needs have limited access to school. This makes them vulnerable and dependent on others, subsequently unable to participate actively in social life and development.
While the pre-school and secondary education is not affordable to everyone, every child in BH age from 6 to 15 should attend free primary education. Primary schools should be the most protective and developmental environment for children, yet UNICEF has found that there is no systematic participation of children in decision-making, monitoring of child rights in their schools and/or communities. This can even alleviate the consequences of child rights violations in and out of school.
Another serious issue BIH faces is the religious and cultural division of the education system. Students from minority groups (children from one religious/cultural group that attend school where the majority of pupils are of a different religious/cultural group) frequently face a hostile environment in schools. In some cases children are prevented from attending the school. UNICEF-supported research on child protection underscores the plight of some 3,500 children deprived of parental care in BIH, and identifies the prevalence of gender-based violence, including domestic violence and the trafficking in children for purpose of begging and in young women and girls for commercial sexual exploitation.
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