What does the Council of Ministers’ draft amendment to the Public Education Act propose regarding educational integration: Differences from the Ministry of Education and Science’s proposal (summary)

The Ministry of Education and Science’s proposal for amendments to the Public Education Act of May 23, 2025, was followed by 754 comments and opinions during the public consultation period, which ended in June 2025. On July 16, 2025, the Council of Ministers approved the draft amendment to the Public Education Act, which was submitted to the National Assembly and will be voted on during the autumn parliamentary session. There are minor differences between the two versions of the bill. With regard to desegregation and educational integration, they are more substantial, with the July version being weaker and representing a retreat from some of the good texts proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science in May 2025. What differences can be outlined?

Educational segregation: towards new, meaningless concepts

In May, the Ministry of Education and Science proposed texts that encourage the desegregation of segregated schools in cities. The new texts required mandatory desegregation measures by municipalities, supported by the Regional Education Offices. There was a provision for a smaller admission plan in segregated schools. A strong point of the proposed texts was the inclusion of definitions of segregation, secondary segregation, segregated schools and kindergartens, and desegregation.

Although the proposals were supported by dozens of organizations, experts, and schools, the version of July 16, 2025, deviates from some of them. The requirements for mandatory actions to overcome segregation, including reduced enrollment, have been retained. A significant departure is the rejection of the definitions of segregation and desegregation and their replacement with absurd terms such as “segregated kindergartens and schools with a concentration of mainly Roma children and students,” etc. Thus, for the first time, the law will refer to Roma ethnicity as an obstacle to effective inclusion: “16a. Separate kindergartens and schools” are kindergartens and schools with a concentration of mainly children and pupils of Roma origin, which makes it impossible to implement a policy of effective inclusion in the pre-school and school education system.

The replacement of terms not only sounds absurd and highly discriminatory, but also contradicts the concepts of “children and pupils from vulnerable groups” used so far, as well as the “soft legislation” of the EU: The EU Council’s recommendations on equality, inclusion, and participation of Roma from March 12, 2021, and other EU legal acts that Bulgaria has committed to comply with. The change also makes it easy to circumvent the provisions, as the principals of segregated schools and kindergartens can easily “explain” that there is no concentration of Roma students in their schools and that parents are defined in a different way (as Turks, Bulgarians, Romanians, etc.). Given that since 2010 the Ministry of Education and Science and schools have not been collecting information on the ethnicity of their students, circumventing the new definition is easy and will likely be done quickly.

Language support: “All quiet on the western front”

There are no significant differences between the texts on language support from May and June 2025. The bill provides for language support not only in the form of additional Bulgarian language and literature lessons, but also in the form of individual integration training and preparatory language classes (Article 16, paragraph 4).

The proposal has the potential to help schools that integrate students with deficiencies in the Bulgarian language. The problematic text remains, which provides for the language class to be repeated, and then the first grade to be repeated, which would open up the possibility of students dropping out quickly.

Educational integration: Swept away by the whirlwind

The proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science of May 23, 2025, contained a well-defined definition of educational integration. It would have provided an opportunity to focus more attention on educational integration and its distinction from inclusive education.

The amendment to the Public Education Act of July 16, 2025, does not contain this definition, nor any other texts on educational integration. There is no explanation for this change.

At this point, the Council of Ministers’ proposal has been voted on in the first reading in the parliamentary education committee. As the discussions on the ZPUO in the plenary hall are still to come, I believe that additional changes can still be made to achieve the objectives and expected results outlined in the proposer’s motives. The latter could also be achieved by integrating some of the proposals included in the “alternative” amendments to the ZPUO proposed by members of parliament.

For a detailed analysis of the changes made to the texts on desegregation, language support, and educational integration, see here: https://amalipe.bg/en/what-does-the-draft-amendment-to-the-preschool-and-school-education-act-psea-proposed-by-the-council-of-ministers-offer-regarding-educational-integration-differences-from-the-proposal-of-the-minist/