site.btaOutgoing Education Minister Highlights Priorities in Higher Education Reform

The outgoing Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev took part in a national forum on the modernization of higher education, which took place here on Thursday. The Minister stated that over the years, the focus has been mainly on reforms that sought to establish how the higher education system can better serve the public, how to intensify scientific activity in higher education institutions, how to attract more foreign students, update curricula, and create more joint programmes with other universities.

The event was organized with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science, the National Assembly of Students' Councils of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Association of State Universities in the Republic of Bulgaria, the Higher Education and Science Trade Union of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), and the Higher Education Trade Union of the Podkrepa Labour Confederation.

Valchev said that for years there had been a lack of regulation of enrolment in the higher education system, which led to its excessive growth, especially in the social sciences, economics, and law. From 2017 to 2021, a policy of restructuring admissions was launched, reducing them by 60% in the social, economic, and legal sciences, by 70% in economics, by 80% in administration and management, by 50% in law, and by 60% in political sciences.

St Kliment Ohridski University Rector and head of the Association of State Universities in the Republic of Bulgaria, Prof. Georgi Valchev, reported that in recent years there has been a positive trend with an increasing number of young people turning to higher education in Bulgaria, including professions that until recently were failing to generate interest.

Prof. Lilyana Valcheva, Chair of the National Sectoral Trade Union for Higher Education and Science with the CITUB, emphasized the importance of the two national programmes of the Ministry of Education aimed at motivating young people to choose to study in Bulgaria. The programme for young scientists and doctoral students, with a budget of EUR 8 million, plans to encourage 1,000 young assistant professors and over 850 postdoctoral students by 2029, giving them the opportunity to work and reach their potential in Bulgaria. A new programme entitled "I Choose to Study in Bulgaria" provides for every Bulgarian student who has won an international competition or Olympiad and eventually chooses to study in the country to receive a scholarship of EUR 665.

The forum was held under the auspices of Plovdiv Regional Governor Hristina Yancheva.