“Program of Secondary Prevention is focused on identification and protection of children from risk factors in primary schools of the Una -Sana Canton “, was presented by Dijana Pejić, Executive Director of the humanitarian organization” Genesis project “from Banja Luka and Assistant Cantonal Minister for Preschool and Primary Education Adnan Kreso, to the representatives of the elementary school from the USC area on September 9 and 10.

As Mrs. Pejić stated in her address, the school principals, as the umbrella persons of the institutions, were invited to the workshop because they must be acquainted in detail with all the activities that await the schools that participates in the Program.

“Principals should support not only the professional service of the school, a pedagogue, a psychologist too where available, but also support every teacher in their school to be empowered through the education that we will offer through this program. In fact, they are not doing any additional work, but the one they have done before, but in a better systemically resolved way, “ said Pejić.

An expert lecture on the goals and significance of this Program for school principals was given by prof. dr. Elmedin Muratbegović and Doctor of Psychological Sciences from the Faculty of Philosophy in Banja Luka, Ivana Zečević, who spoke about the importance of secondary prevention in educational institutions from a psychological aspect.

Secondary prevention includes early diagnosis and early therapeutic or psychotherapeutic treatment, said during her presentation prof. Zečević, adding that there is multiple benefit, after the student is helped within the school.

“Secondary prevention affects the adequate development of a child, leads to meeting the needs of children, security, love, respect, to solve a particular problem, and wakes up a sense of belonging to the team in the child,” said Prof. Zečević.

The implementation of the Program of Secondary Prevention  focused on the identification and protection of children from risk factors in primary schools in the Una-Sana Canton was approved by the Cantonal Ministry of Education of the Una-Sana Canton. Its representative expressed its belief that this Program will be well accepted in the their schools and that it will have good resulst as is the case in the Republic of Srpska, and the Sarajevo and Tuzla cantons, where it has already being implemented.

“This is a program that should reduce the number of cases of violence among children in a way that all preventive work should be correctly directed, risk factors recognized with one additional educational recognition of certain things and what is happening with the children in educational institutions and therefore it is supported by the Ministry.” said Assistant Minister of Primary Education Adnan Kreso. 

During the workshop, school principals confirmed that primary schools in the USC area really need such a program, and the establishment of a referral mechanism, stating that the program will be fully implemented in the educational institutions they come from. 

Senajda Mašinović, the director of the elementary school “Crvarevac”, confirmed that all the mentioned risk factors are present in this school.

“Problems were recognized by teachers and professionals, but a strategy for solving them was not developed, so many cases were not adequately responded to. The fact that the pedagogues in schools are overburdened with administration and do not have enough time for their real work also complicates the quality response. The program of secondary prevention will be good for teachers, professional staff, school in general, but also for students with risky behavior and their parents, ” said director Mašinović.

The two-day workshop, held in Bihać, was attended by 45 of the 49 primary school representatives.

In addition to the principals of primary schools, the workshop was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education of the USC, the Pedagogical Institute of the USC and UNICEF BiH.

The program of secondary prevention, in the schools of Una-Sana Canton, is implemented by the humanitarian organization “Genesis Project”, as a technical partner of UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the project is implemented under the auspices of the Swedish government.