Turkish schools dominate award ceremony in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Students from Turkish schools in the country dominated a ceremony in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in which the Ministry of Education rewards those students who are successful in national and international olympiads.

Turkish school students received 21 out of 27 awards during the event, held in the historic city of Mostar and attended by students from 50 various high schools and 44 primary schools across the country.

Elvira Dilberovic, the education minister of the federation, said at the award ceremony: “The students receiving awards here today are very important to us as a nation. With this ceremony we are showing them that we are supporting them as a federation in accordance with their request. These students are the best ambassadors of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Among the Turkish school students who received awards was former Foreign Affairs Minister Zlatno Lağumciya's son Salko Lağumciya, who also ranked third in a math olympiad held last year in Thailand. “Our success is not the result of our intelligence; what brings us success is spending hours studying and solving the necessary questions again and again,” Lağumciya said.

Neyra Kurtoviç, another student at a Turkish school who received an award, said: “These events are important because they demonstrate that students' achievements are not just grades written on a paper and encourage young students of Bosnia and Herzegovina who want to be successful.”

Published on Sunday's Zaman, 29 November 2015, Sunday