Secondary vocational school “Džemal Bijedić” Goražde is the only one in BiH that offers the profession of plastic processor, and 10 girls who enrolled in this field this year break all prejudices that it is a man’s job.

Secondary vocational school “Džemal Bijedić” Goražde enrolled a new generation of students of plastic processors. The class is composed of 19 students, which is a significant increase compared to the previous year, when there were 15 of them.

Although prejudices prevail in our society that professional occupations are for boys, 10 girls who enrolled in this field have completely denied such claims, at least in this town on the Drina.

One of the girls who first fell in love with this direction is Medina Adilović, who found out about the school and this direction through the media:

“I immediately found it interesting and decided to enroll. I heard that a lot of students from the previous generation got hired after school. That was one of my significant motives,” she said, adding that she did not consider other schools as this was her first choice.

In all of this, she was supported by her parents and friends.

“My parents agreed from the very beginning. They advised me to work hard, to be diligent in school and in practice in order to acquire as much knowledge as possible. Friends, although not informed about what the plastic processor was doing, supported my decision to the maximum, ”she says, adding that she has not received any comments that this is exclusively a direction for boys.

In the future, she plans to stay in BiH and improve in the job for which she is studying. She considers choosing this job to be the right and honest decision.

“I would like to tell all the girls to inquire about school and then decide if it is something they could do. It is very important for them to know that this is a really promising direction, when we talk about our city and our country,” she said.

The director of the Secondary Vocational School “Džemal Bijedić”, Sedin Hadžimusić, points out that the school is very satisfied with the enrollment in the school year 2020/21.

“As far as plastic processors are concerned, we will have an interesting department, where a dual organized education system will come to the fore. We hope that practical classes will continue to be conducted in companies from our canton, and GIZ also gave us great help in practical classes. “Supporting the school by delivering a modern plastic injection machine. The school has professional, young and trained staff to work on modern technologies, so that students in this profession will have one of the most modern workshops,” said Hadžimusić.

Prevent Components d.o.o. Goražde and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, in cooperation with the Hastor Foundation, are implementing the project “IDEAL – Improvement and Development of the Education System for Plastics in Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

The project supported the development of occupational standards for the profession of “plastic processor.” The curriculum for this profession, which as such is the most modern in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been applied since the 2019/20 school year. The curriculum was approved by the Ministry of Education, Youth, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Bosnian-Podrinje canton of Goražde.