Abstract
This paper focuses on the influence of contemporary demographic phenomena and processes on education demographics, exploring the challenges they present for the development of the education sector. The analysis explores the impact that the contemporary demographic processes like depopulation and its spatial aspects, natural change, and migration processes have on primary education in the Central Bosnia Canton. Notably, the paper highlights a significant disparity between the number of students entering (first grade) and leaving (upon completing) primary education. In recent years, the number of students completing primary education has been, on average, by 23-26% higher than the number of those enrolling the first grade. Projections based on modern birth rates and current trends indicate the potential emergence of an ever decreasing number of students in primary schools in the near future. To gauge perceptions of the most important causes of contemporary demographic processes and their influence on the development of primary education, we have conducted a survey on a sample involving 500 respondents. This study also explores the attitudes of younger residents of the Central Bosnia Canton towards the decision to have or not have children.
Keywords: school demographics, number of students, depopulation, birth rate