site.btaFunding Approved for Only Two New Kindergartens in Sofia - Sofia's Deputy Mayor for Education

In Sofia, the government has approved funding for only two new kindergartens, Sofia's Deputy Mayor for Education Desislava Zhelyazkova said, as quoted by the municipality's press office. She was commenting on the parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance's decision not to back the EUR 570 million education investment programme for the construction and expansion of kindergartens, nurseries and schools.

"Sofia, the city with the largest number of children and the most acute shortage of kindergarten places, has been allocated funding for only two new kindergartens, the same number as Blagoevgrad. Meanwhile, seven new kindergartens are planned for Plovdiv and five for Pazardzhik. In the capital, 45 municipal schools still operate on a two-shift schedule, yet funding has been approved to expand only one of them. At the same time, projects are being financed in areas where there is no real shortage, while the neighbourhoods with the greatest need are being left without adequate support. Investment should follow need," Zhelyazkova said.

She warned that rejecting the programme would have real consequences for thousands of families. "Instead of discussing how to build more kindergartens and schools, we heard claims during the debate that the current mayor had already made Sofia such an undesirable place to live that the shortage of kindergarten places and the need for two-shift schooling would soon solve themselves," she said. In her words, such remarks reflect a dangerous logic: rather than investing in a solution, the state is counting on the problem to diminish on its own.

Zhelyazkova noted that over the past two years, Sofia Municipality has created more than 2,400 new places in kindergartens and nurseries. The municipality is currently working on 23 projects to build and expand kindergartens and nurseries. "To overcome the deficit that has accumulated over the past decade, we also need an active government policy that directs investment to where the need is greatest," the Deputy Mayor said.