LocationsBanja Luka
Children in the new school have more comfortable desks and better blackboards, and teachers have more space to devote themselves to them better
December 31, 2024
Foto: Sulejman Omerbašić
Through the intervention "Improving the quality and availability of educational services in the new elementary school in the settlement of Ada in Banja Luka" within the Project for Improving Performance of Local Services in Bosnia and Herzegovina (PIPLS), new equipment was acquired for the school, including furniture, teaching aids and classroom devices , assembly hall, offices, library and reading room, and school kitchen and dining room.
Ivan and David are in the fifth and third grades, and they say that it is nice and comfortable in their new school:
"I like it, there are more places, and the teachers can devote themselves more to us. The benches are comfortable, they are not hard and you can sit on them, and the blackboard is good and it is easier to write and erase on it than on the one with chalks", says Ivan, and his brother David agrees with him.
Parents satisfied with the equipment and furniture, expect further improvements
The boy's father, Marko Aćić, says that he is satisfied with the equipment, furniture and teaching aids that the school has for now, but that he hopes that its work will be further improved in the coming period:
“Boys used to go to the “Branko Radičević” school in the Starčevica settlement, and with the construction of a new school they moved here. Thanks to all the international organizations that helped equip this school, children from first to fifth grade really have new and high-quality furniture that will serve for teaching purposes. However, the school is open, but not finished, and the children need more than just desks and blackboards," says Marko Ačić, emphasizing that the expansion of the school's capacity has also brought with it new needs for improvement:
Marko Ačić
Foto: Sulejman Omerbašić
"When, from the original intention of the school being only for five-year-olds, they decided to include other grades, we in the Parents' Council realized that in the coming period it was necessary to work with both the City and international partners who will hopefully help in further equipping it so that it could adequately respond to the needs of all students, given that we currently do not have an adequate computer lab, nor a gymnasium, nor a space where physical education classes could be held."Marko Ačić
Marijana Maran, associate for education in the Department of Social Affairs of the Banja Luka City Administration, says that the significance of the new school built in the Banja Luka settlement of Ada after more than 20 years is great, which is also evident from the increasing number of new students after the start of the second school year.
The settlement is being built and expanded, more and more children are attending the school
“The school was built in the Ada settlement, a new settlement that, according to the design, has the prospect of further development. The best indicator that speaks in favor of this is the fact that 58 students enrolled last school year, while at the beginning of this school year that number was 138 students,” says Marijana Maran, adding that the school is particularly important for the new settlement, which is mainly made up of families with a large number of school-age children:
"In this way, the building of the central elementary school "Vuk Stefanović Karadžić" of which this is a regional department was relieved, and the numbers of children enrolled here speak in favor of the fact that the planned dynamics of filling the school and the interest of parents from year to year will be all bigger”.Marijana Maran
Administrative worker Nikolina Sladojević has been working at the school since its opening in September last year, during which time it grew from a five-year school to a nine-year school.
"We started with a very small number of children, and that number has grown considerably this year. The school is very important for this settlement, given that it is constantly being built and expanded, and that the influx of children is increasing. The school was primarily intended for classes up to the fifth grade, but the change led to the fact that it will still be a nine-grade school. This year we have children from the first to the seventh grade, and the school only works in the morning shift."Nikolina Sladojević
Marijana Maran
Foto: Sulejman Omerbašić
Nikolina Sladojević
Foto: Sulejman Omerbašić
The Project for Improving Performance of Local Services in Bosnia and Herzegovina (PIPLS) is funded by Sweden and implemented and co-financed by the United Nations Development Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNDP BiH), with the support of three cantons and 22 local government units (LGUs). The project aims to improve access to key public services through better governance and increased investment in local infrastructure.
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