site.btaNew Resources and Partnerships for Bulgarian Schools Abroad Presented at ABSA Conference

The third and final day of the Annual Conference of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad (ABSA) concluded after opening on July 21 at Sofia University. The theme of this year's 19th edition was "Bulgarian Schools Abroad: a Space for Identity, Culture and Belonging."

Thursday's agenda featured presentations on modern methods of teaching Bulgarian, new educational resources, and support for Bulgarian schools abroad.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Venera Mateeva-Baycheva, a lecturer in Bulgarian as a Foreign Language at the Department of Bulgarian as a Foreign Language within the Faculty of Slavic Studies at Sofia University, presented an integrated system for teaching Bulgarian as a second (foreign) language. The project has been developed by the department's academic team and brings together various types of educational resources based on a unified methodological framework. The system is intended for all learners for whom Bulgarian is not a native language, including international students studying at Sofia University as well as Bulgarians living abroad.

Dr. Valentina Alexandrova-Kirova presented a new educational resource "Our Bulgaria" for third and fourth grades, developed specifically for Bulgarian schools abroad. She co-authored the publication together with Margarita Rusanova. Dr. Alexandrova-Kirova explained that the resource was developed with financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science under the Native Language and Culture Abroad programme.

Following her presentation, Deana Ivanova, Chair of the T.A.N.G.R.A. Association of Bulgarians in Madrid, and Vanya Kotorova, Head of the Bulgarian School and Kindergarten in Budapest, addressed the audience. They invited participants in this year's Az Sum Bulgarche Festival of Bulgarians Around the World, whose final stage will be held in Budapest in November.

The invitation was followed by a presentation by Dr. Elena Spasova of New Bulgarian University, who outlined opportunities for partnership between the university and Bulgarian Sunday schools abroad. She highlighted NBU's experience in organizing teacher training courses, seminars, and professional development programmes, and expressed the university's readiness to share this expertise with Bulgarian Sunday schools. According to Dr. Spasova, the aim is not to duplicate existing initiatives, but rather to expand opportunities for cooperation.

Vasya Nikolova and Venelina Miteva of the Association of the Olympiad Teams in Natural Sciences presented the possibility of hosting the exhibition "Fantastic Minds" at Bulgarian schools abroad. The exhibition showcases the achievements of Bulgarian students who have excelled in international science Olympiads.

They introduced the participants to the activities of the association, which was established in 2010 with the aim of supporting the preparation and participation of Bulgarian science Olympiad teams in international competitions. Today, the organization supports Olympiad teams in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, linguistics, astronomy and astrophysics, geography, and artificial intelligence, while working to promote their achievements and inspire future generations of young talents.

Vera Zaharieva, Chief Expert at the Human Resource Development Centre responsible for the Erasmus+ programme in the fields of higher education, adult education, and youth, presented the opportunities for Bulgarian schools abroad to participate in European programmes and projects, develop partnerships, and access other forms of support.

Prof. Dimitar Simeonov from the Department of Geography at the Faculty of History of the University of Veliko Tarnovo delivered a lecture on the effects of academic mentoring in project-based learning. He also presented a new geography textbook resource on Bulgaria for students in grades 5 to 7, developed specifically to meet the needs of Bulgarian Sunday schools abroad. In addition, he presented the results of several years of work by the university team on national educational programmes aimed at creating modern learning resources for Bulgarian schools abroad.

The day concluded with a presentation of the adaptive educational platform Intreea, which identifies knowledge gaps and creates an individual learning pathway for each student. The presentation was delivered by Galina Grozeva, an expert from the Eto Kak educational platform.

The Bulgarian News Agency and the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad signed a partnership agreement in Sofia on July 17.