Without Plato, ancient philosophers, NGOs, and liberals in school!

As a student, I was enthusiastic about studying philosophy from Plato’s dialogues. I was particularly influenced by the dialogues Phaedo, Phaedrus, and Symposium, in which Plato (through the voice of his teacher Socrates) argues for the immortality of the soul and discusses love. It’s normal—many teenagers wonder whether our souls are immortal, and everyone is concerned about love. At that time, I perceived as an intriguing detail the fact that Plato extols love as the feeling between an older man and a younger one and everywhere speaks of a love that is homosexual. I liked Aristophanes’ speech, where he tells that in the past there were three sexes—men, women, and androgynes (male-females), whom Zeus divided in two and therefore people still search today to restore the old unity…

Honestly, none of these magnificent works (repeated and reiterated over the following centuries and studied in schools and universities in all epochs) prompted me to be LGBT, and I would hardly have pondered on this side of them if the change in the Law on Preschool and School Education had not been adopted by the National Assembly on August 7, 2024. On a striking note, in a single day of first and second readings, the representatives of the people defended “the Christian family” and “traditional values,” banning in schools “the performance of propaganda, popularization, and incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, of ideas and views related to non-traditional homosexual orientation and/or identification of gender identity different from biological one.” I was shocked not so much by the fact that Renaissance, BSP, and DPS in partnership with the other parties decided to defend something that no one attacks—since they can’t form a government for the umpteenth time, evidently they want to show that they are still working (and what work…). But I am deeply concerned that Plato and all ancient philosophy (until Aurelius Augustine) must now be thrown out of the curriculum—what homosexual love, what androgynes/third sex!!! All this is a serious threat to the Christian family and traditional values! It’s strange that even during the Middle Ages Plato and Aristotle were studied and were the leading philosophers, instead of being publicly condemned and their books burned. It’s high time for the Bulgarian representatives to do what “kings, popes, and patriarchs” did not think to do during the bright Middle Ages.

Beyond irony and sarcasm (it’s hard to write seriously about the legislative act of August 7, 2024), I want to emphasize three troubling trends for which yesterday’s decision is a clear indicator:

Bulgaria and Europe: Growing Apart

The Eurobarometer study “Discrimination in the EU” from 2023 (as well as the previous study from 2019) clearly outlines a serious difference between Bulgaria and Romania on one hand, and the other European countries regarding almost all attitudes toward “different” people, tolerance, and educational programs. Numerous questions show the readiness of European citizens to accept/not accept lessons on racism, the Holocaust, Roma history and culture, gender (this terrible word “gender,” which Europeans prefer over the word “sex”), and others in the school curriculum. On all these issues, Bulgaria and Romania are outlined as the “most conservative” and most resistant to introducing such lessons. The difference lies only in the fact that the trends in the two countries are different: between 2019 and 2023, Bulgaria showed a slight convergence with the attitudes of other Europeans (although the difference remains too substantial), while in Romania there is rather a deterioration. For example, 85% of EU citizens agree to study the history of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism in school, while in Bulgaria this percentage is 61, and in Romania, it is only 52 percent. On average for the EU, 73% of citizens agree that children should have lessons about Roma culture and history in school, while in Bulgaria this idea is shared by only 48% (45% are against), and in Romania, 51% accept the possibility. In fact, we are the most negative in the entire European Union, although there has been a 4% improvement, while in neighboring countries, the deterioration is as much as 8%. The difference in the possibility of having lessons about sexual orientation in school is particularly evident. On average for the EU, 71% agree that students should talk and learn about this—without worrying that these topics would threaten traditional values and the Christian family. In Bulgaria, 34% of citizens in 2023 expressed agreement against 68% disagreement. Compared to 2019, the share of those agreeing has decreased by 4%, and those disagreeing has increased by 8%. Probably all the hysteria about the so-called “Istanbul Convention” has led to this decline in approval. Only Romania is even more conservative than us—there, those agreeing that sexual orientation should be discussed in school are 31%, which is a decrease by a whole 16% compared to 2019. Those disagreeing are 63%, which is an increase by 16%. See the entire Eurobarometer report on Discrimination in the European Union here.

It is not difficult to predict what the results of the next survey will be, especially regarding those agreeing to study sexual orientation and roles in school. In fact, after August 7, this question should not be asked in Bulgaria at all—it is already illegal to have such lessons in school…

The decision of the National Assembly will negatively affect all other issues related to the curriculum and tolerance. I am convinced that more and more people will disagree with schools teaching about racism, the Holocaust, the contribution of Roma to national and European history and culture… Most likely, most of the MPs have not even thought about how much more they are distancing Bulgaria from EU average attitudes. It is alarming that together with neighbors from Romania, we are increasingly moving away from other Europeans. Even countries like Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, where we also observe a “conservative wave,” are not so far from the EU average indicators. Have we forgotten that the European Union is not just a common market and a shared economic space but also shared values?

The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Education

Almost everyone is aware that the decision of the National Assembly to pass this law is directly related to fear of the influence of non-governmental organizations. This is one of the funniest and most absurd things about adopting the law. In fact, the role of NGOs in Bulgaria is significantly less important compared to most Western EU countries. While in other countries, NGOs receive serious funding from the respective state budget and have an institutionalized role, including in education (they are delegated to organize extracurricular activities and more), in Bulgaria, the situation is quite different. For years, the state budget has been planning to allocate 1 million BGN for projects of non-governmental organizations and has still failed to do so, due to the impossibility of launching the Council for Civil Society Development (this impossibility is also due to the lack of political will by the ruling party). Regarding the influence of non-governmental organizations in preschool and school education—it is mainly a result of the efforts of the organizations themselves and the readiness of schools and kindergartens to implement innovations in partnership with the organizations. In July, one of the Renaissance MPs submitted a parliamentary question about the contracts concluded by the structures of the Ministry of Education with non-governmental organizations. Minister Tsokov’s response shows that the majority of NGOs work in a relatively small number of educational institutions. Exceptions are “Amalipe,” “Teach for Bulgaria” and several other organizations, with the value of the contracts being 0 BGN in most cases. That is, organizations are donors to schools or do not have financial relationships with them.

It is important to emphasize that the autonomy of schools and kindergartens to partner with civic associations and community centers is a key opportunity that “opens up” the system for introducing innovative content and, above all, innovative approaches to working with students and parents, as well as for additional training of teachers. It is not coincidental that these schools and kindergartens achieve success and are inclined towards innovations. After the change in the Law on Preschool and School Education from August 7, 2024, this autonomy is very likely to be greatly reduced, and schools/kindergartens will have additional concerns about such partnerships and educational innovations.

“The Collective Madness” in Pursuit of “Views and Ideas”

I know that currently it is mildly said “strange” to talk about European and democratic values and principles, and those who do it risk appearing “out of trend.” But even that alone is very troubling. Times when legislation is made against “ideas and views” have always been undemocratic. And states with such legislation are also far from democracy—Russia, Iran, many countries of the “global south,” recently joined by Georgia… For me, it is worrisome that the texts with which the Law on preschool and school education were supplemented were offered and rejected at least 3 or 4 times by the previous compositions of the National Assembly. Now they were adopted within one day, without serious public discussion and with an interesting political “consensus,” amid the deafening silence/absence from the Plenary Hall of MPs identifying as “pro-Europeans.” It’s as if the political class is engulfed in “collective madness,” and no one sees/dares to explicitly state the undemocratic nature of the adopted texts in the most important educational law. Somehow, this looks strange, reminiscent of the worrying times for Germany and Europe in the 1930s. In one of Georgi Bardarov’s wonderful books, “Absolvo te,” one of the main characters, Dr. Theodor Shpengler, explains that his great sin is silence during the most troubling events. We must not be silent, even when it is likely that we will not be heard and even when “ideas and

Author: Deyan Kolev