How can the emerging qualifications framework in Bosnia and Herzegovina increase people’s opportunities for learning throughout their lives? This topic is subject for discussions when experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and beyond will gather in Banja Luka on 4 – 5 February for a two-day event organised by the European Training Foundation (ETF) and BiH’s Agency for Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education.

“With the framework, we will get more clarity about what qualifications people have and what they mean,” says Madlen Serban, director of the ETF, “it is not just for young people, it is for adults too as it give the qualifications they already have more value, making it easier for them to move on in life.”

After a welcome from the host, Republika Srpska’s Minister of Education Anton Kasipovic, participants from VET schools, institutions and the world of work will discuss what benefits a qualifications framework can bring and what results it can deliver to both individuals and employers. Positive examples from neighbouring Slovenia, a country with a shared history which has recently joined the European Union, and Spain, a country with experience of successfully accommodating regional identities, will be presented.

Representatives of trade unions and employers’ associations will lead the debate on how the qualifications framework should be implemented. “We want to have a discussion about the contents of this reform so we can get a real understanding of the benefits it can bring,” says Arjen Deij, a senior expert on qualifications at the ETF, “once people have seen the opportunities, we can overcome any problems with implementation.”

BiH has already developed a framework for higher education. Since 2005, it has been working on an overarching framework for the whole of the education system, which can make BiH qualifications readable and easy to understand both internally and abroad.