site.bta55,000-Plus First-Graders Across Country to Begin School

Over 55,000 first-grade students across the country will begin school on Monday, September 15, according to the Education and Science Ministry. More than 2,300 schools will open their doors to welcome their students. The total number of students from first to twelfth grade expected to return to school exceeds 716,000, according to data by the Ministry.

Education Minister Krassimir Valchev will officially open the new school year on Monday at two schools at the 119th Secondary School in Sofia, and later he will visit 200th Primary School in the village of Lozen, the Ministry's press center said. Later in the day, Valchev will participate in a working meeting at Naiden Gerov Secondary School in the Stolipinovo district of Plovdiv, where he will meet with the teams working under a mechanism for inclusion of children in the educational system, affiliated with the school.

The new school year also began on September 1 in 405 Bulgarian Sunday schools located in 43 countries across six continents, the Ministry added.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and Minister Krassimir Valchev on September 12 participated in an official ceremony awarding high school graduates with an honorary national diploma. The event took place at the National Archaeological Museum. "These top students justify our hope for the future," said Minister Valchev.