Teachers' salaries will be increased by 123% in 2025. This is what Galin Tsokov, Acting Minister of Education and Science, told bTV.
“The Day of the People's Awakeners is a really big Bulgarian holiday, which is related to honoring the Bulgarians who, with their pen or cross, inspired and united the people in one situation or another. In fact, these are the real leaders of Bulgaria. Today there are also such leaders – these are the teachers and university professors“, he said on the occasion of the past holiday.
Galin Tsokov said that a few days before Halloween he visited a theater production in Blagoevgrad, in which 4th grade children from Sandanski participated. The play was based on stories from the Bible.
“The formation of values in this way – not only religious, but also purely human, it shows very clearly how children are engrossed in what they do, he explained.
The Minister of Education and Science also commented on the next elections that took place in Bulgaria. He pointed out that he voted and not out of obligation. He thinks that it is proper for our country to have a regular government.
“There are still things that need to be completed. If there is an opportunity to stay in the government, my team and I will gladly do it, he also pointed out, specifying that he came into power to “improve something in Bulgarian education”.
Galin Tsokov also commented on some of the decisions made by his team in recent months – such as ninth graders taking a science test using only electronic devices.
„This test is related to establishing the skills of the ninth graders regarding the disciplines related to natural sciences. We have been hard at work preparing this test for several months because it has several main objectives. First of all – to try the digital test in an online environment. In second place – to establish certain competences“, he explained.
According to him, the electronic test was completed successfully for about 85-86% of the ninth graders, which is a good result. “This is a success for all the teachers, as well as for the people who compiled the assignments,” he added.
However, the education system still had a long way to go before the introduction of the so-called “digital graduations“ – passing the matriculation exams on a computer.
Galin Tsokov also commented on the high levels of aggression in Bulgarian schools, admitting that “this is now a constant value”. One of the ideas of his team, for example, is to expand the number of psychologists in Bulgarian schools.
„The law on school and pre-school education prohibits the use of mobile phones during school activities. In many schools, children's phones are put away in special places at the beginning of the learning process, but other options in this direction are also being considered, he commented on the idea of banning phones like Greece.
Minister Tsokov also spoke about the increase in teachers' salaries and those of university professors.
„We have put 123% in next year's budget as a salary increase for teachers, although we originally proposed 130%. With regard to higher education, 180% increase is set there”, he pointed out.