School principals will receive a minimum of 2,600 leva, it is clear from changes to Regulation No. 4 on labor standardization and payment, uploaded for public discussion. Depending on the level of career development, the minimum salary for the position will vary from 2,596 leva to 2,665 leva. Above 2,400 leva becomes the minimum salary for a deputy principal, and if there is an acquired first degree of career development it will be 2,470 leva.
Teacher educators, speech therapists, psychologists, pedagogical advisors will receive a starting salary of 2,131 leva. The salary of senior teachers and senior educators becomes 2,198 leva, and that of head teacher educator – 2283 leva.
The new salaries will be retroactive - from March 1.
The draft act proposes to increase the minimum basic salaries of pedagogical specialists by no less than 15%.
The increase in the remuneration of pedagogical specialists is calculated within the framework of the funds for standards for a child/student, group/parallel and institution, adopted by Decision No. 93 of 28.02.2025 of the Council of Ministers for the adoption of standards for state-delegated activities with natural and value indicators in 2025, writes pariteni.
The draft act was developed in implementation of the priorities set out in the Management Program of the Republic of Bulgaria for the period 2025 – 2029 to update teachers' salaries and reach a level of 125% of the average salary for the country. The state budget for 2025 has allocated funds in the amount of BGN 499 million to increase the salaries of pedagogical specialists and reach a level of 125% of the average gross salary for the country.
The annual increase in salaries is one of the main measures to overcome the shortage of pedagogical specialists and motivate young people to choose the teaching profession.
With the adoption of the Regulation, the salaries of 90,850 pedagogical specialists will be increased, incl. 4064 directors and 2275 deputy directors from 4064 municipal and state institutions in the system of preschool and school education.
The new minimum amounts of the basic monthly salaries of pedagogical specialists are in line with the agreements reached with the Annex to the Collective Labor Agreement for the system of preschool and school education signed on 31.03.2025.
I appeal to higher education institutions to raise their requirements for students, because good higher education is difficult. This was said by the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev during a meeting with the Academic Council of the University of Economics in Varna. This is his next on-site meeting with professors from state universities.
"The state will support any initiative aimed at improving the quality and promoting specialties that prepare experts for the priority sectors for our country", said Minister Valchev. According to him, one of the important measures aimed at increasing the requirements in economic universities is the increase in the admission of mathematics for prospective students. "This will probably lead to difficulties for universities in the short term, but we are ready to support them further", the minister pointed out and expressed confidence that this is a step that will make students from this field even more competitive on the labor market.
According to him, economic and technical universities in the country also have serious potential for attracting more foreign students. "We will support your efforts to be more recognizable on the global higher education market and together we will change the program of the Ministry of Education and Science to promote our higher education institutions abroad", Minister Valchev also said.
The trends in higher education are positive not only because of the increase in the number of foreign students, emphasized Krasimir Valchev. He noted that the scientific activity of universities, the number of publications by professors, and international activity are increasing. The Minister emphasized that more and more young people are choosing an academic career, which increases competition and quality.