National programme “Participate and change – the parent, an active partner in school life” – opportunities and guidelines for active involvement of parents in school life

By Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 188 of 5 March 2021, 16 national programs have been approved, which will be implemented for the second consecutive year with no changes in the activities planned for implementation in the upcoming school year 2021/2022.

Among them, NP 15 “PARTICIPATE AND CHANGE – THE PARENT, AN ACTIVE PARTNER IN SCHOOL LIFE”, which is aimed at building a partnership of mutual trust, respect, and tolerance between parents, teachers, and students, is an active application.

The implementation of the program for the second consecutive year is driven by the need for deeper cooperation between parents and the school, based on positive communication, will contribute to better adaptation and socialization of children in the learning environment and will increase the degree of importance for the child of school and education. Efforts are also needed to involve parents as active participants in their children’s school life will build a stronger parent-teacher-school relationship towards trust, respect, and tolerance between the three parties. Building a partnership between the parent, the school as an institution, and the teacher as the person closest to the children at this time is essential for each child to develop his or her potential.

The implementation period of the projects will be in the period of the school year 2021 – 2022 and the total budget of the program is – 500 000 BGN.

Beneficiaries of the program are all state and municipal schools in the school education system.

The program aims to cover the following specific objectives:

active participation of parents in the discussion of issues relevant to their children
of school life; in decision-making and implementation; in proposing
different topics for discussion; in the implementation of different initiatives and events;
improving parent-teacher-student communication to build
trust, respect, and tolerance;
active involvement of parents in the organization and holding of meetings of the
classroom activities;
active parental involvement in organizing and conducting general,
With which to achieve the following outcomes:

parents involved in school life;
improved communication between parents, teachers, students;
classes included in the national program;
meetings with parents held by the class teacher;
a common event for the classes included in the national program
program.
It is the achievement of the latter results that is the aim of the two activities included in the program, which is open to schools with pupils in primary and/or lower secondary education (grades I to IV and/or grades V to VII).

Activity 1. Organization and conduct of meetings with parents. For each class, two meetings with parents shall be held in and/or outside the school during the school year 2021-2022.

Activity 2. Organization and holding of a common event for the classes of the school included in the national program.

In the implementation of the two activities, joint activities with Amalipe Center for organizing parent lectures and meetings with successful Roma may be envisaged in order to activate and inform the parent community, as an eligible cost are external speakers, celebrities, and other specialists, but not teachers, principals and other pedagogical specialists from the applicant school. Topics for the meetings could include current issues such as “Early Marriage”, “Motivation for Continuing Education Beyond Grade 7”, “Education System”, and “Parent Club Activities”.

The organization of a common event could be linked to the celebration of holidays from the cultural calendar of ethnic groups such as Basil’s Day and 8th April, international days such as Tolerance Day and Roma Pride Week, etc.

In the purchase of materials, it is possible to buy the manuals for the active parent – “Active parents for successful children” of the Center “Amalipe”

Funding is one-time until the financial resource is exhausted, and the maximum eligible cost of activities under the national program – up to 3000 BGN per school.

The following costs are eligible:

for the remuneration of class teachers for additional work related to the planning, organization and conduct of meetings with parents and the general
event for the classes involved, up to 6 hours, performed outside the norm for
the compulsory teaching work, at a rate of BGN 12 per hour, including for
employer’s contributions on the amount;
remuneration of lecturers, celebrities, specialists external to the school and other participants;
for the purchase of materials (sports, art, stationery, etc.), information
materials (printed, video, audio) and books, depending on
topics.
Expenditure on the remuneration of teachers, principals and other teaching staff from the applicant school invited to participate in the meetings with parents and the general event is ineligible.