site.btaCurricula Need to Be Reformed, Become More Framework-Based - Education Minister

Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev believes that curricula need to be reformed and become more framework-based. “Today's pupils will be active in 2070, when the world will have changed beyond recognition,” he said on Monday at the Green Transition Forum event, which is being held at the Sofia Event Center. The event is organized for the fifth consecutive year by Green Transition Forum and Dir.bg. BTA is a media partner.

According to Valchev, the question is how to adapt education systems to prepare today's children for 2070. However, the answer is still missing.

“The problem with our education system is that along with the need to look forward, it also carries the burden of unresolved issues from the past,” the minister noted.

Over the past 25 years, Bulgaria has seen two education reforms that have led to mixed results - both positive and negative.

As a positive aspect Valchev pointed out the good overlap of information technologies in education. “I dare say that our children are doing relatively well with information technology,” he said. Students are also achieving good results in foreign languages, and the system continues to successfully provide basic education. International assessments after grade 4 show better results than the European Union average, he said.

Negative trends relate mainly to results in mathematics and science, as well as to declining motivation to learn. The two reforms have made curricula more academic and ambitious, which Valchev says creates difficulties. Teachers and students are short of time, always rushing, reproducing a culture of rote learning and studying for grades without developing real skills. And it is skills that endure, he said. 

Valchev stressed that the problem is not only in the study programmes, but also in the way of evaluation. “If what is tested is children’s abilities to reproduce information, they will learn that way. If we test their understanding, they will learn more deeply,” he said.

Basic skills and subjects will become even more important. Math will play a key role in building logical thinking, and traditional communication skills will be even more important.

The Minister believes that curricula need to be reformed to be less academic and more framework-based.