In the coming year, Bosnia and Herzegovina should in particular:

• strengthen the capacity of state-level education agencies to develop EU standards and increase the level of quality assurance in education;
• establish an effective coordination mechanism in the Federation entity to improve cooperation between bodies responsible for quality assurance across the country;
• step up efforts to strengthen its research and innovation capacity.

There was some progress in education. A state-level policy document setting priorities for developing higher education in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2016-2026 was adopted in March.

The Republika Srpska entity adopted its education development strategy for 2016-2021 in April, setting priorities for further education reform as well as next steps for teacher training and professional development.

Coordination between the country’s education ministries improved. Two meetings of the Conference of Education Ministers were held during the reporting period. Two cantons adopted laws on adult education. The State Agency for Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education adopted the common core curricula for cross-curricular areas. The national pre-school enrolment rate for children aged 3-6 rose by 8.16% compared to the previous school year.

Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to participate actively in the Western Balkans Platform on Education and Training and hosted the 2016 Ministerial meeting in Sarajevo. The country continues to participate in the external dimension of the Erasmus+ programme and its Western Balkans Youth Window, as well as in policy support networks and electronic platforms.

However, the lack of effective coordination at state level remains an issue of concern and it may put at risk the country's full participation in the EU's education programme.

Implementation of the action plan for implementing the ‘baseline qualifications framework’ has not started yet due to the lack of the state-level intersectorial commission responsible for implementing the action plan. An effective coordination mechanism has not been established in the Federation and the two existing coordination bodies are still acting in parallel.

Coordination between bodies responsible for quality assurance is weak at the level of pre-school, primary and secondary education. In higher education, coordination and cooperation between the state-level Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance and the Republika Srpska Agency for Accreditation should be improved. Further efforts should be made to establish national education statistics.

Cooperation between education institutions and the business sector still needs to be improved. The relevance of education to the labour market remains weak. The education sector, especially in higher education, remains a high-risk area for corruption and political interference.

In the field of culture, the Creative Europe Desk generated great interest among cultural stakeholders across the country. Both Creative Europe offices, in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, organised workshops and information days across the country.

There was limited progress in the field of research and innovation. The BiH Council for Science was established in December as an advisory and technical body in the area of science and technology. The country’s investment in research and innovation remained low.