site.btaOlympiads May Motivate More Students to Study Math and Natural Sciences, Education Minister Says

The Take part! The Olympiad is for everyone! campaign was launched at the National Press Club of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) in Sofia on Thursday. The goal of the campaign, organized by the Natural Sciences Olympic Teams Association and the Regional Departments of Education, is to increase the participation of students, teachers, and school principals in the municipal rounds of the Olympiads. BTA is the main media partner of the campaign.

“If we already have a large number of students taking part in the early rounds of the math Olympiad, the challenge remains to boost participation in the natural sciences,” Education and Science Minister Krasimir Valchev said at the launch of the campaign. “We have a list of measures, but the Olympiads are one opportunity, a very important measure, to motivate more students to study mathematics and natural sciences, especially if we manage to motivate them to participate in the first round of these competitions. The Olympiad is not just for medallists, not only for top students, it’s an opportunity for every student to show their strengths, to demonstrate their abilities in a particular area, and to be placed in a competitive, challenging environment. This can further motivate them to learn mathematics and natural sciences,” Valchev added.

During the event, various initiatives were presented aimed at improving awareness among parents, as their support is crucial for students' first steps in these competitions.

Valkan Goranov, Executive Director of the Natural Sciences Olympic Teams Association, Elena Marinova, Deputy Chair of the Association, and Kiril Valchev, BTA Director General, took part in the presentation of the initiatives.

“We rely predominantly on school principals and teachers to engage more students in the first round of the Olympiads, and I am convinced that this will spark lasting interest in learning mathematics and natural sciences in many of them,” Minister Valchev said. He added that other Olympiads, including the Bulgarian language and literature ones, are also important. There are additional scholarships available, but the goal is not just to reward winners, “we want to motivate more students to take part in the first round. Parental support is also extremely important,” he said.

Valchev added that months ago, the Ministry placed a strong focus on promoting mathematics and natural sciences, not because other subjects are not important, but because motivation in these areas is the weakest. “We cannot prosper if we don’t increase motivation to study math and natural sciences. We cannot prosper without engineers. We cannot be on the AI map if more students are not interested in studying mathematics and computer science in depth,” Valchev said.

“By participating in an Olympiad, a child may not win a medal, but that experience can change their life, sparking interest in natural sciences and mathematics. We believe that professions requiring in-depth study of math and natural sciences are the future, because there will be a shortage of young people with these skills. AI-related professions will require deeper knowledge,” Valchev said. Engineering is also a profession of the future, yet it is hard to motivate students to pursue it, he added.

Valchev provided some telling statistics: last year, only 43 high school graduates sat for the final exam in physics, 1,400 in mathematics, and nearly 15,000 in foreign languages, ten times more than those who chose mathematics.

“Next year we’ve planned to tie 50% of admissions in the professional field of Economics to mathematics. I use every opportunity to tell 12th graders, if they want to study economics, they’ll have a much better chance of being accepted into better programs, if they study mathematics this year,” he said. “If they want to be good economists, they need solid mathematical training.”

Admissions to all engineering and technical fields will be tied to either the national matriculation exam or a unified exam in mathematics or physics. Technical universities are expected to develop a unified exam, so applicants won’t have to sit multiple entrance exams at different institutions. This exam will serve as an alternative to the matriculation exam, the Minister explained.

Valchev thanked the Natural Sciences Olympic Teams Association for everything they do, calling them a great example for supporting students. He also expressed gratitude to BTA for their partnership in the campaign.