Pre-service Teacher Training takes place at higher education institutions, and marks the education that future teachers need to acquire to gain the title of a teacher. Initial education includes programs specifically designed for future teachers, or programs in which students study disciplinary areas that are equivalent to a particular subject.

The basic role of initial teacher education is to educate personnel for active participation and contribute to the further development of the educational system. International analyzes and reports show that, despite differences in organizational and management patterns, the degree of centralization and decentralization, investment, size and number of educational institutions, successful education systems have certain common characteristics, among which are strictly enrolled in teaching faculties and clear strategies for attracting and retaining the best staff in the teaching profession. Restructuring initial teacher education programs is an integral part of the reform of higher education institutions in BiH, in line with the Bologna Process. This included, inter alia, alignment with the three-stage system of studies, the introduction of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), the revision of curricula and the development of quality assurance systems. However, the analysis of the current situation shows that the changes at the universities in BiH were often structural and sometimes only formal in nature. It is believed that the quality of initial education of future teachers is one of the weakest links, as well as obstacles to improving quality in education, primarily due to slow adjustments of faculties and departments to changes and the needs of practice. Another problem is the negative selection of students enrolled in teaching faculties.