site.btaSchool Year in Bosilegrad Begins

The first school day in Bosilegrad was full of smiles and festive atmosphere.

There were traditional messages to the pupils, teachers and parents and an address  by Serbian Education Minister Slavica Djukic Dejanovic.

Bosilegrad Mayor Vladimir Zahariev too greeted pupils on the beginning of the new school year.

First-graders were given a traditional welcome ceremony. They were led to their classrooms by their teachers, where they were given backpacks and books, provided by the Bosilegrad Municipality and the National Council of the Bulgarians in Serbia.

In recent years the number of children in the municipality of Bosilegrad has been declining. This year there are 38 first-graders, of whom 26 will go to the primary school in Bosilegrad and the rest will attend schools in the neighbouring villages. As few as seven have enrolled for classes in Bulgarian. A total of 319 students enrolled for the 2023/2024 school year in Bosilegrad.

On Friday was the first school day at the high school in Bosilegrad too. This year there ar e35 ninth-graders. Eighteen will have their classes in Bulgarian and 17 in Serbian. The Bosilegrad Municipality and the National Council of Bulgarians in Serbia provided free textbooks in Bulgarian and Serbian for all ninth-graders. This year the high school will have a total of 141 students.

A total of 43 children are enrolled in pre-school education in the Bosilegrad Municipality this year.