In 2025, early childhood education in Bosnia and Herzegovina moved forward through a series of programme-level initiatives and policy dialogues that, while not yet constituting systemic reform, signalled growing attention to the sector’s development. Progress was gradual, emerging from multiple actors working within a complex governance landscape.
The most tangible policy-focused activity took place in Sarajevo Canton, where consultations connected to the World Bank childcare subsidy study continued. Here, ministries and service providers engaged in constructive dialogue on financing and access—an encouraging step even if it did not produce a state-level strategy or unified funding mechanism. Preschool provision remained governed by a patchwork of cantonal and municipal policies, but the conversations reflected increasing willingness to explore solutions.
At the same time, the EU-supported technical assistance project sustained collaboration among educational authorities and kindergartens across the Federation and the Brčko District. Work on self-evaluation, external evaluation, teaching standards, and other quality-assurance processes demonstrated steady commitment to improving practice. APOSO also remained active in early childhood support, though its ability to influence broader change continued to be limited by political constraints.
For The Center for Educational Initiatives Step By Step, 2025 was a year characterised by implementation and hands-on engagement rather than legislative shifts. The organisation advanced structured professional development, mentoring, and institutional self-evaluation frameworks designed to strengthen quality at the point where children learn and educators teach. A new partnership with Think Equal (EU) marked a significant milestone: the launch of the first phase of a social and emotional learning (SEL) competency programme for children aged five to six, alongside structured school-readiness programmes (pred polazak u školu) in multiple locations. While these initiatives were not mandated at the national level, they were carried out in close cooperation with preschools and local authorities and contributed to growing momentum for quality improvement.
Although the contribution of these activities to cohesion, inclusion, participation, and democratic values was largely indirect, their alignment with democratic education is clear. SEL programmes and educator capacity-building nurtured communication, cooperation, self-regulation, empathy, and other competencies essential for engaged, respectful participation in community life. Yet the reach of these benefits remains confined to participating institutions: without a nationwide framework to scale such practices, the potential for broader societal impact is constrained. Even so, these efforts lay important groundwork for a more democratic, inclusive early childhood system in the long term.
Policy advances in 2025 were modest. Legislative reforms did not materialise, and activity largely centred on consultation processes—most notably the World Bank study and UNICEF-supported discussions on access and quality alignment. On the programme side, Step by Step broadened educator training pathways, mentoring approaches, and self-evaluation tools inspired by international early learning quality frameworks. Its collaboration with Think Equal deepened the introduction of structured SEL. Engagement with cantonal ministries, public and private preschool institutions, UNICEF, UNFPA, and the World Bank supported wider programme uptake, even if stable public financing and binding policy commitments have yet to follow.
Persistent inequalities continued to shape access to preschool, particularly for low-income families, rural communities, Roma children, and children with developmental difficulties. Where ECEC programmes are available—including SEL and school-readiness interventions—they strengthen school preparedness, psychosocial development, and children’s early capacity for social participation. These gains contribute locally to greater inclusion and support the values of cohesion and democratic engagement. But limited financing and coverage mean that programme-based progress cannot yet deliver population-level change. Systemic, publicly funded access remains essential for ensuring that every child and every community can benefit.
