site.btaEducation Minister Meets World Bank Regional Director for Human Development in Europe, Central Asia Region

Accurate data are key to making good decisions in education, Education Minister Georgi Valchev stressed during a meeting with World Bank Regional Director for Human Development in the Europe and Central Asia Region Michal Rutkowski on Friday. The two discussed the continuation of joint initiatives in the field of education and work on the project to strengthen the production and use of data for better learning outcomes in Bulgaria, which was launched last year, the Ministry’s press centre said.

“A large part of the challenges facing Bulgarian education fall within the scope of the joint project. We hope reliable data will be collected to support decision-making aimed at improving the quality of education,” Valchev said. He highlighted a number of challenges in pre-school and school education. “A key priority is to ensure equal opportunities for every Bulgarian child through access to quality education - regardless of social status and the region in which they live,” he stressed. According to him, the battle of the 21st century will be for highly qualified personnel. Therefore, the training of future specialists at all stages of education is crucial for the development of the country’s economy. Attention was also drawn to the challenges related to the emergence of artificial intelligence and the need for more training for teachers so they feel confident working with it. “In recent years, we have witnessed the accelerated introduction of various technological tools. The challenge before us is to minimise their harmful effects on children and pupils and maximise their benefits,” Valchev added.

It became clear during the meeting that Bulgaria will be the first country in the world where these World Bank tools for measuring the quality of education will be applied. Rutkowski said that only what can be measured can be improved and stressed the importance of examining educational processes in detail in order to make effective long-term decisions. He underlined that Bulgaria collects extensive administrative data on educational processes, and that their efforts would focus on systematising and using these data to propose real management solutions for the sector. The data from the project will make it possible to take decisions that bring the country closer to the world’s best performers, the World Bank regional director stressed.

The activities to be carried out are the result of an Agreement between the Republic of Bulgaria and the World Bank from 2025 and will support the pilot implementation of information on educational outcomes in 200 schools across the country. It will summarise data both at school and national level against key indicators corresponding to the forthcoming National Quality Framework. These are aligned with the strategic priorities outlined in various national and European frameworks. The value of the project amounts to EUR 970,000 and it is financed under the Education Programme 2021-2027.

Also participating in the meeting on behalf of the World Bank were Jason Pellmar, Country Manager for Bulgaria, and Ciro Avitabile, Senior Education Economist, the statement said.