MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND
SCIENCE
Educational policies and measures to
improve the access to education and to
support the development of
disadvantaged children
EUROPA House, Sofia
31 October 2014
Policy for comprehensive, accessible
and quality education and training.
Lifelong learning.
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Improving the quality of education
Ensuring equal access to education and opening up of
the education system
Linking vocational education and training with labour
market needs
Creating conditions and enabling environment for
implementation of the National Strategy for Lifelong
Learning
Transforming Bulgaria into a country of knowledge and
innovation
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Main goals of education policy
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equal access to education
quality education
Equal access to education and quality education are interrelated –
equal access means access to quality education, and quality
education reveals its full potential only if accessed by every
Bulgarian child.
Equal access to quality education is directly linked to the
establishment of conditions for sustainable development –
establishment of conditions and environment at school and
university level but also building up a system of services and
appropriate infrastructure in order to support and facilitate the
exercise of everybody’s right to education.
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Priority of education policy
Development of policies and measures targeted at
establishing inclusive schools and kindergartens which
adequately meet the needs of children and students,
particularly disadvantaged children and students, and
also at providing the required support to them during
school education and preschool education and
training.
These policies and measures are laid down in the main
strategic documents of the Ministry of Education and
Science.
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Main strategic documents of the
Ministry of Education and Science
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Strategy to reduce the share of early school leaving
(2013 –2020)
The policies and key measures to prevent early school leaving, which
are set out in the Strategy, include also providing access to
education and increasing the quality of education for children and
students from vulnerable ethnic communities.
The Strategy is oriented towards implementation of policies and
measures in order to achieve the goal of “11% share of the early
school leavers by 2020”, a goal also outlined by the National
Reform Programme of the Republic of Bulgaria (2012 – 2020).
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Main strategic documents of the
Ministry of Education and Science
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National Strategy for Lifelong Learning for the
period 2014 - 2020
The National Strategy for Lifelong Learning sets the strategic framework of
the state policy for education and training for the period 2014 – 2020,
which is targeted at achieving the EU objective of smart, sustainable and
inclusive growth.
The National Strategy is based on four main principles:
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Application of an educational approach supporting the development of all
learners and contributing towards development of thinking, capable and
proactive individuals;
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Increasing the quality of education and training;
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Ensuring the educational environment for equal access to lifelong learning
and for active social inclusion and active citizen participation;
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Promoting education and training aligned to the needs of the economy and
changes on the labour market.
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Main strategic documents of the Ministry of
Education and Science
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National Strategy for Pedagogical Staff Development
(2014 – 2020)
The National Strategy for Pedagogical Staff Development streamlines
the policies for pedagogical staff training, qualification and career
development , and is linked to the regulatory, institutional and social
basis of the overall education system.
The Strategy objective is to achieve correlation with the objectives of
the EU Cohesion Policy for the period 2014 - 2020, particularly
with the thematic objective for investing in education, school and
out-of-school training and lifelong professional qualification, as well
as with the Programme supporting sustainable and quality
employment and labour mobility.
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Main strategic documents of the
Ministry of Education and Science
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Strategy for development of vocational education and training
in the Republic of Bulgaria for the period 2015 - 2020
One of the main objectives of the Strategy is to address early leaving of
the education system by children from socially disadvantaged families
and to give opportunities to adults to acquire qualification in specific
subjects at vocational secondary schools and vocational training centres
in order to participate in the labour market.
The introduction of the dual education system, or learning by working, will
help reduce the number of leavers of the education system and also
youth unemployment rates.
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Main strategic documents of the
Ministry of Education and Science
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National Strategy to Promote and Improve Literacy
(2014 – 2020)
The Strategy identifies the promotion and improvement of
literacy as a national priority.
Special attention is paid to vulnerable groups – those whose
low income limits their learning opportunities and reduces their
motivation, as well as those who find language a major obstacle
to acquiring education.
The focus is placed on creating environment for literacy
promotion whereby special role is played by modern
information technologies and by teachers. Specialized
qualification is foreseen for all teachers on modern methods of
teaching and diagnostics of reading.
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A concept to amend the regulatory framework
in implementing Article 24 - Education of the
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (approved in May 2014 by an Order of
the Minister of Education and Science)
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The concept’s main goal is to introduce
amendments to the secondary legislation in the
field of education targeted at providing real
guarantees for equal access, equality and inclusion
of every child and every student in the education
system through lifelong learning and meaningful
involvement in the social life, with the purpose of
successful labour market participation.
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Key measures targeted at reducing the rate of children and
students who are not covered by the education system and
at preventing early school leaving
gradual introduction of full-day organisation of the school process – during school year
2013/2014, total 176 488 students were covered by a full-day school process in 1 788 schools. In the
current school year, such process was also introduced for 5th graders.
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in school year 2010/2011,
a mandatory two-year child training was introduced prior to enrollment
in the
at school and it has been operational since then; the aim is to include successfully
every child in the education system, something of particular relevance to the children whose
mother tongue is other than Bulgarian
1st grade
every year, textbooks and teaching aids are provided free of charge to the pupils from the 1 st to
the 7th grade; this helps ease the social burden on children from socially disadvantaged families and
it also contributes to promoting school attendance
resource support is provided for integrated training of 11 954 children and students with special
educational needs at kindergartens, general and vocational education schools by total 1364
professionals from the resource centres which are the MES supporting units.
the necessary enabling
environment has ben created for pupils with special educational needs to
take part in the national external assessment process and to sit for their state matriculation exams.
different types of training are held for school headmasters, teachers and other professionals who
have pedagogical functions and work with children and students with special educational needs in
a general education setting, and also with children from other vulnerable groups, including Roma
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National Programmes
of the Ministry of Education and Science
which are also targeted at disadvantaged children
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National Programme on Creating Accessible Architectural Environment
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National Programme “Caring for Every Student” – under the Programme modules,
– annual
funding is provided for construction of access ramps, adjustment of sanitary premises, repairs of
ancillary infrastructure, provision of elevator facilities and installation of platform facilities
additional training is financed annually for children from pre-school groups, both at kindergartens and
schools, for students in the initial years of primary education and the years immediately preceding
the secondary education stage, in order to increase the level of their general education achievements
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National Programme “School is the Territory of Students”,
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National Programme “Schools of No Student Absences”, Measure “No Absence” –
Module on supporting
full-day school for students in the initial school years – inclusion of students, among them such
from ethnic minorities, in various activities within full-day organisation of the school process is
funded on an annual basis. By spending the whole day in a Bulgarian speaking environment, children of
different mother tongues are supported in their efforts to learn better the Bulgarian literary
language, which presupposes increased educational level, improved communication skills and active
intercultural dialogue among students of different ethnic background. Total 93 school projects were
approved for funding in 2014, at the total cost of BGN 800 000.
support is provided to schools implementing their own action plans to reduce absence rates, early
school leaving rates and to reintegrate school leavers.
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Human Resources Development Operational Programme 2007 –
2013: projects which are targeted also at disadvantaged children
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BG051PO001-4.2.05-0001, “School of self-affirmation and preparation for European horizons –
USPEH (SUCCESS)” - conditions are created to rethink students’ free time through interest based activities in
various extracurricular classes, with a view of keeping them in the school environment. In school year 2013/2014,
total 189 930 students in 1 304 schools were included.
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BG051PO001-3.1.06, “Improving education quality in community schools through introduction of
full-day organisation of the school process“ – the goal is cover students even more extensively and keep
them at school. In school year 2013/2014, total 4383 groups were established comprising 102 169 students.
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BG051PO001-4.1.03, “Integration of children and students from ethnic minorities in the education
system” – under this scheme, total 152 agreements were signed amounting to BGN 22 207 222,32. The following
activities are supported:
- providing appropriate educational environment for inclusion of children from kindergartens categorized on the
basis of ethnicity through gradual enrollment at kindergartens outside the Roma neighborhoods;
- preparation of children at early age (3 – 6 years) for full inclusion in the future educational process, among them
children from ethnic minorities too. Additional activities for children in kindergartens whose mother tongue is
other than Bulgarian;
- activities targeted at preservation and development of the cultural identity of children and students from ethnic
minorities;
- joint activities between parents of Roma children and other parents;
- qualification of headmasters, teachers and other pedagogical professionals in the field of working in a multicultural
setting.
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BG051PO001-4.1.07, “Inclusive training” – aimed at providing enabling environment for equal access to
education and opening up of the education system to the implementation of inclusive training of children and
students with special educational needs
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Competition procedures of the
Centre for Educational
Integration of Children and Students
from Ethnic Minorities (CEICSEM)
In 2013, the CEICSEM launched a competition procedure under the following three
strategic objectives which are also priorities of the 3-year CEICSEM activity plan for the
period 2013 - 2015:
Strategic objective 1: to guarantee the right to equal access to quality education, including
through integration of Roma children and students in ethnically mixed kindergartens and
schools.
Strategic objective 2: to preserve and further develop the cultural identity of children and
students from ethnic minorities, and also turn ethnic cultural diversity into a source of
mutual acquaintance, respect and cooperation.
Strategic objective 3: to include and accept Roma parents as part of the educational
process and to increase their involvement in school life.
The beneficiaries of the projects are state and municipal kindergartens, schools and
supporting units in the system of public education, the regional education inspectorates,
state run higher education schools and municipalities.
Under the three competition procedures, project activities covered total 4 527 target group
children and students; 1509 target group parents; 813 target group teachers.
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“Education means investing in the
future”
It is of primary importance for the national policy to agree on the cause of
education and investing in children as a fundamental priority of Bulgarian
society development. To this end, the Parliament should urgently adopt all
draft bills and strategies underpinning the policies and measures which will
guarantee stability of Bulgarian education. First and foremost, these should be
the documents ensuring the start of the new Operational Programme
“Science and Education for Smart Growth”.
In this way we will achieve one of the priorities of the European cooperation
in the field of school education, namely “Increasing the primary role of
schools in promoting inclusive societies and strengthening social cohesion by
providing quality education to all students in accordance with the principle of
equality”.
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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
AND SCIENCE
Thank you for your attention!