The Government of the Republic of Srpska approved today during its 103^rd session the financial assistance in the amount of BAM 300,000 to the municipality of Kostajnica and the amount of BAM 100,000 to the municipality of Kozarska Dubica for repairing the damage on residential buildings after the earthquake that hit that area the day before.

The Government also passed a Decision with regard to celebrating the Day of the Republic of Srpska.

This decision regulates the manner of marking and celebrating the Day of the Republic of Srpska on the 9^th of January which is a non-working day and the celebration program is determined by the organization committee. On this Day, all institutions, offices and services of the Republic and local self-governments, companies, institutions and other organizations, as well as persons who professionally perform service and entrepreneurial activities, shall not work. The flags of the Republic of Srpska will be displayed at all public institutions and institutions in the period from January 1 to January 15.

According to the Government Conclusion, on January 14, 2021, all bodies and organizations of the Republic of Srpska, services of local self-government units, public companies, institutions and others that celebrate the New Year according to the Julian calendar shall be closed.

The Government approved the Plan of allocation of funds to the Ministry of Economy and Entrepreneurship for the period of January through December 2020 in the amount of BAM 8,000,000.00.

Those funds are intended for payment of subsidies to enterprises which had provided the increase of salaries for their workers in 2020 and thus in accordance with the Law on Incentives in the Economy of Republic of Srpska and the Rulebook on Incentives, acquired the right to a refund of certain amount of funds based on decisions previously issued by the Minister.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska passed a Decision on co-financing of projects of underdeveloped and extremely underdeveloped local self-government units.

This decision approves the payment of financial resources to underdeveloped and extremely underdeveloped local self-government units for co-financing of projects in total amount of BAM 74,136.14 KM. These funds are intended for implementation of various projects in the municipalities: Novo Goražde, Lopare, Vlasenica and Jezero.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska approved the Proposal of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Gas.

The reasons for preparation of this law are related to the need to further raise the standard of services and to regulate more precisely the obligations of entities in the internal market of natural gas.

The most significant difference between the Draft and the Proposal of this Law, which are the result of the parliamentary debate, refer to the provision on prescribing the deadline for performing trial or probationary operation on the newly built natural gas distribution or transport systems which starts from the day of issuing the temporary use permit. The draft had proposed that the prescribed period should run from the date of issuance of the use permit.

The draft law was further amended to include the transitional provision which prescribes the deadline for obtaining a license to perform energy operations for an energy entity that performs the activity of managing a plant for compressed natural gas.

Other differences of the Proposal in relation to the Draft Law are not essential in nature and refer to the specification of certain provisions, as well as the technical improvement of the text of the Law.

The Government adopted the 2021-2023 Adult Education Strategy of the Republic of Srpska.

The Strategy for Adult Education in the Republic of Srpska is adopted as a strategic document in the context of the lifelong learning and this is the first strategic document that systematically approaches the development and improvement of adult education. The new Strategy represents the effort of the institutions of the system to work in a coordinated and systematic manner on the development and improvement of the quality of the four pillars of education, namely preschool, primary, secondary, higher and adult education. In this way, in the Republic of Srpska, the education system, in accordance with modern tendencies in the world, created preconditions and enabled lifelong learning for its citizens.

Education of adults as part of one of four subsystems of education, represents an instrument in implementing socio-economic measures of the Government of Republic of Srpska in terms of improving productivity and competitiveness of the economy, increasing employment and social inclusion and linking education and labor market so that financing of the adult education system implies distribution of responsibilities and competencies between a number of ministries.

The goal of the education system including the education of adults is taking over a key role in development of society through high quality education being a resource for the development of the economy, every individual and society as a whole. The Strategy of Adult Education in the Republic of Srpska as a document of strategic thinking will be open to changes and improvements and to other and better solutions that can be offered in the coming ten years for the improvement and development of an integrated education system and part of lifelong learning and education.

Strategic goals in adult education are to improve the adult education system framework, to develop more flexible and system with greater availability, to support the labor market and cooperation with social partners, to improve the quality and to modernize adult education.

Adult education is a partnership activity and a joint responsibility of various actors: the state, employers and employees, business and professional associations, educational institutions and individuals.

The strategy is adopted at a time of social, economic, cultural and demographic changes when any strategic thinking to create a better society is imperative and thinking about a better education system is not only a task but also an obligation.

In Republic of Srpska, the Institute for Adult Education is in charge of adult education, which is an administrative and professional organization within the Ministry of Education and Culture. According to the Law on Adult Education, education organizers can be primary and secondary schools registered for adult education and specialized organizations for adult education, such as community colleges, training centers, foreign language schools, driving schools, as well as other legal entities that meet the requirements of individual adult education programs.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska adopted the Information on the activities on implementation of EU directives 2005/36 / EC and 2013/55 / ​​EU and the Action Plan for the Transformation of Secondary Education for Medical Technicians in the Republic of Srpska for the period 2020-2025.

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Srpska have developed the Action Plan for the reform of secondary education for  medical technicians with the support of the Nursing Strengthening Project in BiH and with participation of representatives of nurses and technicians, the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development, Higher Education and Information Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Secondary Medical School in Banja Luka and the University Clinical Center of Republic of Srpska as the employer.

An analysis of the existing situation with regard to the education standards, the curricula, regulations in health care system and the legal framework in the field of public education was carried out. A detailed analysis identified relevant facts, gave recommendations and proposed appropriate activities for the modernization of education of medical technicians at the secondary school level.

The action plan envisages five components that contain various activities with the implementation of which the education of nurses and medical technicians in the Republic of Srpska would be harmonized with the EU Directive and European standards, namely the development of a transition plan to adapt the qualifications of employees to healthcare requirements, plans and programs in secondary schools for medical technicians with EFN guidelines, harmonization of normative acts in the field of education and health, development of professional competencies for medical technicians and graduate nurses, and training of nurses working in secondary schools.

The transition plan will be prepared by a working group consisting of representatives of relevant institutions and organizations with the help of regional experts from Slovenia who led this reform process in their country and domestic experts in Republic of Srpska. The working group for the development of the transition plan will be formed at the proposal of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

In accordance with the above, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is in charge of appointing a working group for the development of the Transition Plan.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska passed the Decision approving the Plan of allocation of funds to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for the period January 1 – December 31, 2020 in total amount of BAM 336,000.00.

Approved funds will be disbursed to: Association of Dystrophic Patients of Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka; the Association of the Deaf and People with Hearing Disabilities, Banja Luka; the Association of the Blind of Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka; Association of persons with polio and phsycical invalids, Union for support of Persons with Intellectual Incapacities of Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka; the Association for Rare Diseases, Banja Luka; the Association for support to Persons with Autism "Djeca svjetlosti”, Banja Luka and the “Udas” Organization of Amputees of Republic of Srpska.