A conversation about what’s ahead in education in the coming months

The immediate and longer-term priorities in educational policies, the need to change the Law on School Education, the changes in the Ordinance on financing and the upcoming “Success for you” project were discussed during the National Meeting of the Professional Director Community for Intercultural Education, organized by Amalipe Center on July 11th. Participating in the discussion were Natalia Michalevska (head of the political office of the Minister of Education), Dima Kotseva and Kamen Yordanov (Finance Directorate), Vladimir Stanchev and Ivan Ivanov (Project Management and Implementation Directorate), Lalo Kamenov (TSOIDUEM), Dr. Yanka Takeva (Bulgarian teachers’ union) and Deyan Kolev (Amalipe Center). More than 140 principals of schools from all over the country participated in the forum.

In her opening words, Nataliya Michalevska emphasized that the Ministry of Education and Minister Tsokov are open to discussions on all important issues with principals and teachers, with social partners and the civil sector. She emphasized the good partnership with the Amalipe Center and the fact that the Ministry takes very seriously all the proposals coming from the organization and the Network of schools with which it works. Among the main priorities for Professor Tsokov’s office, she pointed out:

– Change in the curricula: the previous years’ attempts in this direction did not lead to a significant result. It is necessary for the new programs to be more basic, oriented towards practice and skills, to be developed with the very active participation of teachers and well-known intellectuals. Mrs. Michalevska pointed out that the formation of working groups for each of the programs is imminent, and the best teachers from each area will be included in them. Famous intellectuals will also be attracted to the groups: for example, Georgi Gospodinov will participate in the group preparing the curricula for Bulgarian language and literature, Atanas Semov – in the group for History, etc. She fully agreed with Deyan Kolev’s proposal to take into account the intercultural aspect and the way ethnic and cultural minorities are represented in the working groups for all programs.

– “Relief from stress” in the organization of the schedule of the educational process, the holding of exams, the duration of the educational time: an opportunity will be provided in case of crisis situations (such as floods, earthquakes, etc.) in a certain area to be postponed/relocated on another date, higher education institutions and other exams, so that parents and students with a risk to their health do not have to take the relevant exam. Also, provision will be made for splitting the National External Assessment dates for grades 7 and 10, and moving them towards the end of the school year to allow more teaching time.

– Inclusive education: changes will be initiated, both in the standard and in the Preschool and School Education Act. The idea is that inclusive education should be aimed at everyone who needs support.

– Educational mediators: the support of the Ministry of Education for their activity is categorical. Through the changes in the Financing Ordinance, sustainable payment is ensured.

– The outreach mechanism: keeping all children in classrooms is an undisputed priority. We also note important gaps in the scope mechanism. For example, the mechanism’s electronic system does not track a student who has been returned except within the relevant year. The commitment of social workers and the structures of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is low, and all the work is outsourced by the teachers and mediators. It is especially important to find a connection between a student’s return and their retention in the classroom. So far, we have had success in bringing back dropouts, but they quickly drop out again or go abroad. It is important to find a way to sustainably detain returned children.

The chairman of Amalipe, Deyan Kolev, gave a presentation on the past year, its challenges and the guidelines for activities in the coming months, from the point of view of schools from the “Every student will be a winner” Network. It includes over 300 schools throughout the country and is coordinated by the Amalipe Center. As important successes of the Network in the past year, Kolev pointed out the extension of the national program “Support for educational mediators…” at the end of 2022, the changes in the Ordinance on financing, through which a resource is provided for the appointment of educational mediators, as well as the announcement of operations for intercultural education under the Education Program. He outlined ideas for changes to the Preschool and School Education Act and requested the participation of the Network in the process of updating the Education Act.

Dima Kotseva and Kamen Yordanov from the Finance Directorate of the Ministry of Education presented in detail the change in the Financing Ordinance, which provides a resource from the State Budget for the appointment of educational mediators, social workers and teacher’s assistants. They emphasized that this is a much more sustainable solution than the National Program. This change will continue to apply in the coming years, so the salaries of the mediators are guaranteed. It is important to emphasize that the projected number of mediators from 2024 is close to 1,300, which is much more than those currently working.

Active debates were also held regarding the “Success for You” project, presented by Vladimir Stanchev (Director of the Project Management and Implementation Directorate). He emphasized that active activities at the school level on the project will begin in the fall. These will include additional training and interest-based activities following the well-known principles of “Support for Success”: payment based on the certificates issued, a small number of students in each group for additional training, etc. The mediators working on the project should be assigned to the respective school. Their basic pay will come from the funds received under the amended Financing Ordinance, and the project will reimburse schools up to BGN 500 per month for 4 hours per day. It is permissible for a mediator to be appointed only for the project for a 4-hour working day, but these should be rather exceptions. The mass case should be of mediators who are appointed to an 8-hour working day, with basic pay from the Financing Ordinance and only supplementary pay from the project. He emphasized that project mediators can also work in schools without a concentration of vulnerable groups.

Mr. Stanchev pointed out that over 1,500 schools applied in June to participate in the “Success for You” project. They have all been approved, and the points they receive do not really matter for the activities they will perform. Some of the principals indicated that the requirement to apply only through the official e-mails had created serious confusion. In some cases, the project system did not take into account the applications submitted by some schools. In response, Vladimir Stanchev promised that each case will be considered individually and the list of participating schools can be supplemented if it is found that an application was submitted on time but was not reported by the system. After the first school year, there will be a new ranking and the schools that want to can apply for it as well.