site.btaJanuary 14, 1835: Bulgaria's First Secular School Opens in Gabrovo

On January 14, 1835, Bulgaria's first secular school was established in Gabrovo, Central Bulgaria. The school was opened thanks to patriotic donors like Vassil Aprilov, Nikola Palauzov and Vassil Rasheev, among others. 

It used monitorial (also called Lancasterian) system of tuition. In the system as promoted by the English educator Joseph Lancaster, the older or better students learned their lessons from the adult teacher in charge of the school and then transmitted their knowledge to the other students. 

From 1872 the school became the First Comprehensive High School in the Bulgarian lands under domination. In 1889 it adopted the name of its donor, Vassil Aprilov, and became the Aprilov High School.

In 1988, the school acquired high school status, and that of a national school - in 1992, when it was renamed National Aprilov High School.

In November 2022, the Bulgarian News Agency signed a cooperation agreement with the National Aprilov High School, whose students are welcome at the BTA as part of an internship programme.

In 2025, the school received the President's Badge of Honour on the occasion of its 190th anniversary. The award was presented to the school's principal Elvira Hristova by the head of State's education advisor Dimitar Zdravkov.