Respecting Equity, Inclusiveness, and Fairness

Schools can build public confidence by reflecting the principles of equity, inclusion, and fairness in their policies and practices. Policies based on equity can create tension because they often involve tradeoffs in resources. However, an inclusive learning environment could foster empathy among students, understanding of their diverse needs, and preferential allocation of resources for minorities, which could increase horizontal trust among groups. Equity and inclusion could be promoted through school policies and practices, such as establishing a mechanism through which diverse social groups can make their voices heard within CBSG, a school building free of symbols of a particular religion, and teachers’ respect for diversity. Schools can also strengthen vertical trust by adopting fair practices. In the case of BiH, however, corruption in the education sector is widespread. Given the lack of political will of government authorities, decentralized school governance may potentially address this problem. Further empirical studies are needed to determine its impact.