Meat and milk were also produced in great quantities. The war destroyed much of the country's farming infrastructure and kept farmers from producing crops. In the mid-1990s, the economy was nearly at a standstill, with many people subsisting on relief assistance from foreign countries. Education Education is considered to be very important. Everybody is required to finish elementary school, and this takes eight years.
Children start elementary school at age seven.
At 15, children can enter a three-year program at vocational school, and receive training for skilled jobs in factories or business. The secondary school course lasts four years. During the Communist era, many students studied pure science, but with the introduction of a free-market economy, applied sciences, economics and modern languages have been becoming more popular. There are four universities - Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar and Tuzla. Each university holds its own entrance examination.