The Association of Bulgarian Employers' Organizations (AOBR) discussed with the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev the launch of urgent reforms in the education system, with the main focus being placed on the needs of the labor market today and tomorrow and the related changes to the admission plan, curricula and programs.
For AOBR, education is a national priority and the quality of life in our country depends on its quality. Representatives of the employers' organizations pointed out that in recent years there have been huge deficits in the education system. Over the past five years, the number of students receiving a secondary education diploma has fallen by 25%, and those choosing vocational education - by over a third. Over half of ninth-graders are functionally illiterate according to the latest international assessments.
According to the AOBR, despite efforts to adapt educational programs to the needs of business, the system remains insufficiently flexible, and financing according to the principle of “money follows the student“ does not stimulate quality. Representatives of nationally recognized employer organizations emphasized the need for a strategic rethinking of the state admission plan in both higher education and secondary vocational education.
“The development of the world and economies currently requires our children to possess a wide range of complex skills. Therefore, for the Ministry of Education and Science, the most important and urgent reform is the change of curricula and programs in secondary education. They must be more flexible and dynamic. Regarding higher education, we will work to further encourage higher education institutions to increase the requirements for admission of students and to admit more young people to technical specialties. I will propose expert and political unity around these and several other reforms and policies that I consider fundamental for Bulgarian education“, said Minister Valchev.
AOBR categorically supported the Minister of Education for his intentions to update the curricula with an emphasis on skills, increase the number of vocational classes at the expense of language classes in non-language high schools, gradually introduce a mandatory matriculation exam in mathematics, expand the participation of SMEs in the dual form of education of students from vocational high schools, encourage higher education institutions to announce applications with mathematics, physics and chemistry, as well as increase the requirements for completing higher education.
All participants also united around several other main theses – linking financial incentives to achieving certain results, increasing the number of school days in secondary education, and actively involving businesses in developing curricula and content to ensure that graduates are prepared for the real demands of the industry.
Among other topics discussed were the need to promote vocational education, the rapid formation of a National Skills Council, increasing the budget for school and student internships, scholarships for key specialties to be twice as high as others, expanding opportunities for internships in a real work environment after the age of 14, etc.