site.btaTeacher of the Year Awards Presented in Sofia

The 28th Teacher of the Year Awards were presented in Sofia on Friday. The winners were selected from a shortlist of 71 nominees. They were divided into 10 categories: preschool education; elementary education; humanities, natural sciences and mathematics, arts and sports; vocational learning; head teachers and deputy head teachers; tutours; extracurricular and out-of-school activities; school psychologists and counsellors; young teachers; and mentors, said Yanka Takeva, President of the Union of Bulgarian Teachers with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB). The Teacher of the Year Poll was organized by CITUB.

Presenting one of the awards, Vice President Iliana Iotova said: “Every Bulgarian teacher deserves an award. I feel I have a personal mission, not because of the office I hold, not professionally, but as a person, to protect the high level of Bulgarian education, secondary as well as tertiary education, anywhere and anyway I can. And to protect the prestige of Bulgarian teachers. This is my mission.”

She noted that this year is the 1,170th anniversary of the creation of the oldest known Slavic writing system, the Glagolitic script, based on which the Cyrillic alphabet was devised. The Glagolitic was created by the Bulgarian brothers St Cyril and St Methodius. Iotova noted that Boris I of Bulgaria received the disciples of Cyril and Methodius and set the beginning of Bulgarian and Slavic literature, turning the country into “an empire of intellect”. Today’s teachers are heirs to this literary tradition, the Vice President said.