The professional community of intercultural education directors discussed their priorities for the 2024/2025 school year.

The professional director community for intercultural education “Every student will be a winner” united around the request to create more conditions for quality education in small settlements (including by reducing the number of students in a class and increasing the standard of a class), improving coordination between the various institutions for the attraction and retention of each child and linking the completion of the second high school stage with obtaining a driver’s license.

In the month of October 2024, three key regional meetings of the professional director community for intercultural education “Every student will be a winner” were held (On October 4 – 5, October 11 – 12 and October 16 – 17). They gathered principals and deputy principals from different parts of Bulgaria in one place, united by their desire to improve the quality of education in schools in small settlements, in schools educating children from vulnerable groups. All of them are part of the “Every student will be excellent” Network. It is administered by the Amalipe Center with the support of the Social Alternative Trust and unites over 240 schools. The meetings created a space for free discussion of the most pressing challenges, but also for possible solutions, exchange of experience and ideas. Shared challenges and successes demonstrated the power of teamwork and community as a driver of positive change.

Discussions at the meetings were not limited to local issues, but were also seen as part of wider national education policies. The participants not only focused on specific measures to reduce student dropout and improve results in national external assessment and state matriculation exams, but also proposed innovative ideas. The events were an example of how the combined energy and commitment of educational leaders can lead to lasting changes in Bulgarian education.

The participants united around the opinion that the first goal is to increase the motivation of students and parents for education to be in school, and key to this is to involve them in activities that develop their civic engagement. Analyzes of the results of the previous school year clearly showed that students who are involved in peer learning, debates, campaigns and various extracurricular activities show a much lower number of unexcused absences and correspondingly higher results, especially on the national external assessment and the state matriculation exams. Another conclusion from the discussions was that the high school students who graduate and take the state high school exams in the current school year show much higher results than students who graduated in the previous years. In this regard, a proposal around which all the participants in the meeting were united is to link the obtaining of a driver’s license with the completion of the second high school stage.

The discussion was also active around the topic of prevention of secondary segregation and promotion of desegregation. The participants shared that it is necessary not to be left alone in this battle, since desegregation is primarily a municipal policy. Some of the directors regretfully shared that the practice of some of the educational institutions, and in some places supported by the municipalities, to conduct a negative campaign against schools educating students from vulnerable groups continues. The definition of “Gypsy schools” was bitterly shared by the participants.

A lively discussion was sparked by the issue of secondary school graduates. The general opinion was that education is increasingly devalued, a contribution to which the state institutions, as well as a part of business, also have a contribution. The directors shared that on the one hand, the moment they turn 18, young people are forced to start working. However, some employers encourage this trend, hiring young people as soon as they turn 18, regardless of whether they have a diploma or not. This is also one of the reasons why some of the twelfth graders do not take the state matriculation exams (unless they clearly have no intention of continuing their education) or even do not request their certificates of completion of the second high school stage. Much more worrying, however, is the practice shared by directors from different regions of Bulgaria, that sometimes representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Labor Offices encourage young people who have reached the age of majority to interrupt their education and enroll in youth programs employment to meet the program indicators.

Support for the regional directors’ meetings was also shown by the Minister of Education, Prof. Galin Tsokov, and the head of the Cabinet, Natalia Mihalevska, who were in Veliko Tarnovo on October 11, 2024. Minister Tsokov once again stated his commitment to support schools in small settlements and schools with undersized classes as a result of demographic reasons. He emphasized that he strongly encourages the autonomy of schools and the initiative of principals, which are, however, accompanied by the corresponding responsibilities. For his part, Deyan Kolev raised the question that it is important for this message to be communicated vertically through all levels of the education system and for the regional structures of the Ministry of Education and Culture to have a truly supportive, not just controlling and punishing, function.

The meeting continued with a discussion of financial issues regarding the spending of funds for vulnerable groups under Art. 52 a, the financing of the educational mediators and other specialists hired under the project “Success for you” and other important issues for schools.

Trust for Social Achievement (TSA) is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to break the vicious cycle of poverty by promoting opportunities that help Bulgaria’s most disadvantaged citizens achieve educational and economic success. TSA supports programs that, with their integrity, potential for growth and transparency, help to improve the well-being of the poorest people in Bulgaria, with a special focus on the Roma.