The Strategic Framework for the Development of Education (2021-2030) will include the educational integration of children and students from ethnic minorities.
The Strategic Framework for the Development of Education, Training and Learning (2021-2030) will include the theme of educational integration, desegregation of segregated schools and intercultural education. Texts specifying the development in pre-school education, the work with parents and the development of the capacity of pedagogical specialists and educational mediators will also be included. This became clear during a discussion with the Minister of Education Krassimir Valchev and non-governmental organizations, which have proposed texts to the strategic framework. The discussion took place on January 28, 2021.
The conversation was attended by: the Minister of Education Krassimir Valchev, the Deputy Minister of Education Karina Angelieva, experts from the team of the Ministry of Education and Science, who are drafting the document, and representatives of civil society organizations. Texts were proposed within the framework of a conciliation procedure for public discussion by the Amalipe Center, Teach for Bulgaria, National Network for Children, Parents Association, Trust for Social Alternative and others.
Deyan Kolev explained in detail the proposal of the Amalipe Center and the organizations from the Roma Integration Network regarding the inclusion of educational integration in an appropriate way in the new strategic document. He stressed that the weakness of the proposed working option is the underestimation of educational integration and the replacement of established terms, such as: “integration” with “Inclusive Education”, “Children and students from ethnic minorities” with “vulnerable groups”. He argued the proposals for inclusion of specific texts in the analytical part of the SWOT analysis and in the strategic part of the document – they provide for prioritization of activities for desegregation and prevention of secondary segregation, introduction of intercultural education for tolerance in the classroom and preservation of cultural identity of minority children, investment in pre-school education and increasing the scope of secondary and higher education for Roma and other disadvantaged groups, etc.
The full text of the proposal of the organizations from the Roma integration network can be found here: https://amalipe.bg/en/proposals-to-the-draft-strategic-framework-for-the-development-of-education-training-and-learning-in-the-republic-of-bulgaria-2021-2030/
Minister Valchev expressed support for the proposals made. He agreed that educational integration could not be reduced to inclusive education and that there was no complete match between Roma children and children from vulnerable groups. The Minister also supported the proposals for specific texts, emphasizing that they will be included in the final document of the strategic document.
The discussions on the proposals made by the Trust for Social Alternative, Together in Time Foundation, NNC and Parents Association took place in a constructive and positive spirit. Most of them will also be included in the strategic framework.