site.btaEducation Minister on Number of Pupils and Teachers, Curricula Changes, Subject of Religion

In an interview on Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday, Education and Science Minister Krasimir Valchev said that there will be around 716,000 pupils in the 2025/2026 school year. Of them, some 57,000 will be in first grade. The figures are not specific because the enrolment of first-graders is ongoing, he specified. There are fewer first-graders this school year compared to previous ones, but it is a projection of general demographic trends, he commented. 

On Saturday, the Education Ministry said in a press release that first-graders are expected to number over 55,000 and all pupils in Bulgarian schools, over 716,000.

"Fortunately, there are also positive changes when it comes to demographics - the tendency for external migration is decreasing, a larger proportion of children of Roma origin are participating in education, and more of them are graduating, as reported by Eurostat," the Minister noted.

This year, more renovations are being carried out during the summer, and nearly 1,500 schools and kindergartens have undergone renovation work because the Ministry had more funds available, Valchev noted. All schools are implementing projects to build a modern STEM environment - these are the so-called STEM centres, natural science classrooms, separated into a single complex, said the Minister. Around 250 school renovations will not be completed, but some of them are being finished at the moment and this figure is approximate. 

Commenting on the idea to start classes later in the day, he said that the main prerequisite for that is to not have two shifts in schools. Research shows that if students start school later, their motivation to learn and their educational results improve, he noted. "Eight years ago, when we began to implement this goal and reduce the number of schools with two shifts, there were 360 such schools. Now there are 226, and when we implement the programme, they will decrease to 180. This is the second programme for the construction and extension of schools," said Minister Valchev. According to him, the number of schools operating in two shifts has also decreased with the regulation of admissions. "The biggest problem is in Sofia, where over 80 schools operate on a two-shift system. There is a lack of land, but we are working to build schools," he said.

On the shortage of teachers, the Minister said that in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of educational specialists who are not teachers but provide support to students – mainly resource teachers, speech therapists, psychologists and educational advisors. "We have expanded the full-day education programme, which involves between 11,000 and 12,000 teachers annually," he noted. "Ten years ago, we conducted an analysis at the Ministry of Education and Science, which included a vision for 2025. This analysis showed us that we were facing the alarming prospect of not having enough teachers, but fortunately, we made the budgetary and political decision to increase teachers' salaries, and today we even have an excess demand for teaching positions in some subjects. We no longer have a shortage of teachers in primary and pre-school education, with an average of 30 people applying for one physical education teaching position, but zero for physics. Only a few people are applying to be maths and chemistry teachers," the Minister specified.

The Education Ministry has opened all curricula for change, with several main guidelines, Valchev explained. One of them is to optimise and free up time for teachers and students to develop skills, because they rush through the material and thus reproduce the culture of rote learning, he reiterated. He explained that the other reform of the curricula is to enhance the educational function of all subjects and to make the programmes more framework-based and less burdensome. "We will soon propose visions for all curricula for discussion," the Education Minister announced.

On the contradictory subject of Virtues and Religions, which has sparked protests for and against in the country, the Minister explained that classes on religion will not be compulsory. "Unfortunately, what I see is that some liberal organisations continue to wage an ideological battle against religion. At the moment, we have religion in Bulgarian schools as an optional subject, and we plan to expand access to it so that every school offers it, but it will not be compulsory," he underscored. "I categorically repeat that no child will be forced to study religion against their will. But we will have one hour of moral education, which will include elements of religion. Children are currently learning about religion - they learn about religious holidays and study religion in a cultural and historical context," said the Education Minister. He added that such education also exists in other European countries.