site.btaEducation Ministry Presents Draft 2026 Budget Providing for 5% Pay Indexation

The Education Ministry's draft 2026 budget was presented at a meeting of the Sectoral Council for Tripartite Cooperation in Preschool and School Education on Thursday, the Education and Science Ministry said.

Diyan Stamatov, head of the Union of Employers in the Public Education System in Bulgaria, said the draft document provides a change in the unified expenditure standard to secure funding for a 5% pay indexation as of January 1 and to reflect the increase in the minimum wage, so that these funds are permanently included in the budgets of educational institutions.

Education and Science Minister Georgi Valchev said, as quoted by the Ministry, that every effort will be made to continue and build on policies aimed at raising teachers' incomes.

The Education Ministry  has proposed to the Finance Ministry that, in drafting the budget, expenditure on the maintenance of institutions in the education system should not be reduced. At the same time, a 5% increase in teachers' salaries for 2026 is already a fact, and additional opportunities will be sought despite the difficult financial legacy inherited by the Government.

"In recent weeks, there has been much speculation, and it is important that we provide the system with clarity and predictability together. Only a calm system can deliver better results and achieve the goals we set together," Valchev said.

He stressed that all proposals for changes to curricula, the regulatory framework and other key policies will undergo broad public and expert discussion with the social partners. 

The social partners said they were ready to cooperate and support the implementation of policies in the sector.

Attending the meeting were heads of nationally representative trade union and employer organizations in the preschool and school education system.