site.bta57,000 First Graders to Start School on September 15

On September 15, 57,000 first-graders will enter school for the first time, Education Minister Galin Tzokov said at a press conference in Varna on Friday. He added that on September 16, teams will begin checking on children that dropped out of the system. They will visit the homes of at-risk students and talk to parents. The Minister said that there are over 2,200 teams in the country, and that thanks to the efforts made under this mechanism so far, 80,000 children have returned to class, with about 50,000 permanently remaining in the system.

Tzokov added that according to data from the regional educational administrations in the country, more than 380 partial or major repairs of educational institutions are still ongoing, with 38 of them continuing after the first day of school on September 15. The Minister assured that an organization has been set up and the education of the children studying in these buildings will not suffer.

Almost all free textbooks up to grade 7 have already been delivered to schools in the country, the Minister also said. B y September 15, all textbooks will be uploaded to the new digital backpack and each student will be able to use those chosen by their teachers. Tzokov recalled that the plan is to have free textbooks for everyone next year and added that everything possible will be done to provide them in  digital format as well.

Tzokov also said that He added that there are still competitions underway for the formation of school teams, but traditionally there is a shortage of mathematics, information technology, natural sciences teachers.