Education development, thereby contributing to confidence building and the promotion of dialogue and co-operation. 1. Education reform A few years after the end of a violent conflict, the international community identified the crisis in education as a long-term threat to the country’s security and stability. Urged to take the lead in reforming the education system, the OSCE became the main actor in this sector. As a reflection of the country’s lingering struggles with ethnic division, the education system remained highly politicized. After the conflict, the education system was characterized by ethnically-divided schools where children were learning from ethnic-specific curricula and textbooks, including on the subject of history. Schools remained physically divided and pupils often had little or no interaction with their peers from other ethnic groups. This contributed to a growing divide in communities through the perpetuation of prejudices and stereotypes. Consequently, young people knew less and less of the other ethnic groups with whom they lived in the same community. In consultation with the host society, the OSCE developed strategies to ensure the application of minimum education standards. It worked with local and international partners to create a functional legal and institutional framework that would ensure equal access to quality schools. The goal of the framework was 46