site.btaProgressive Bulgaria Proposes Early Language Assessment, and Virtues and Religions Subject in 2028/2029 School Year

The Progressive Bulgaria (PB) parliamentary group has proposed amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act aimed at identifying pupils’ language difficulties at an early stage, developing moral, social and civic competences and introducing Virtues and Religion as a school subject, the PB press office said on Friday.

The amendments provide for standardized tools to assess children’s language skills upon admission to kindergarten, at the end of pre-school education, and upon enrolment in first grade for children who have not attended kindergarten. Assessments would also be conducted for children returning from abroad and those granted international or temporary protection.

Based on the assessment, the school will determine what support is needed to meet each child’s specific needs.

At the end of first grade, pupils who have not achieved satisfactory results in Bulgarian language and literature will undergo an additional assessment.

Another proposed change is the introduction of a new compulsory subject, Virtues and Religion, aimed at fostering moral qualities, respect, empathy, responsibility and civic virtues. Pupils will be able to choose among three options: Orthodox Christianity; Islam; or virtues, ethics and civic education.

The subject will be introduced in the 2028/2029 school year for pupils entering first grade and extended to each successive grade in the following years.

In late 2025, Danko Kalapish, head of the 107th Khan Krum Primary School, said that more than 12,000 pupils in Bulgaria were studying religion as part of extended or optional classes. The available courses were Orthodox Christianity, Islam and non-denominational religious education.