site.bta Education Minister: Bulgaria Has Tradition in Dual Education, Builds on It with Swiss Programme

Caretaker Education and Science Minister Sergei Ignatov said Bulgaria and Switzerland are cooperating successfully in education and science, with a key focus of their joint work on the development of dual education and support for scientific research. He met with Swiss Ambassador Pierre Hagmann and Thomas Stauffer, Head of the Swiss Contribution Office at the Embassy of Switzerland in Bulgaria, the Education Ministry said on its website on Thursday.

According to Ignatov, Bulgaria has a tradition in dual education, but businesses still face various challenges in its implementation. That is why the new DOMINO 2 programme to develop the model is important, not only for its financial support, but above all for the expertise, knowledge and new working approaches that the two countries will exchange.

DOMINO is the Bulgarian abbreviation for dual education for the modern needs and requirements of the society.

The programme has a budget of over CHF 5.8 million and will be implemented by the Education and Science Ministry until 2029. Progress is already being reported: meetings have been organized in 26 regional capitals, providing a clear picture of local capacity and the next steps, including the creation of regional clusters and the appointment of coordinators to connect businesses, schools and local communities, it emerged at the meeting.

At the same time, experts from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences are examining the link between vocational education and the labour market, with data and trends expected to inform more effective sectoral policies and decisions. Work is also underway to develop new models, based on Swiss experience, aimed at improving the social integration of students through dual education and enhancing the quality of learning.

Ambassador Hagmann noted that under the Swiss-Bulgarian Cooperation Programme, a total of 11 programmes are being implemented in Bulgaria, making the country the third-largest beneficiary of Switzerland's contribution to EU Cohesion Policy.

Four of these programmes are in education and are administered by the Education and Science Ministry. Among them is a research programme with a budget of over CHF 10 million. It has three components: MAPS (Multilateral Academic Projects), which funds joint scientific research; PROMYS (Promotion of Young Scientists in Bulgaria), which supports young talents to continue their academic careers in Bulgaria; and SCIEX (Scientific Exchange Programme), a mobility and exchange initiative for young researchers.

The other two programmes in which the Education Ministry partners with Switzerland focus on health, prevention and education. Thomas Stauffer praised the Ministry for the synergy among the various programmes. He said successful implementation of the measures will provide grounds for increasing the financial resources for the planned third cohesion contribution, which is expected to be voted on in Switzerland in 2027.

Participants in the meeting highlighted the positive results of bilateral cooperation, including completed joint projects, active exchanges of scholars, and scholarships for Bulgarian researchers. This includes the Independent Bulgarian-Swiss Fellowships for Bulgarian Junior Scholars and Bulgarian Academic Diaspora in the humanities and social sciences, supported by the Education and Science Ministry and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation of Switzerland.

A successful example cited was INSAIT (Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology), established in partnership with Switzerland's two largest technological universities - the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) and the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL).