site.btaStandards for Early Childhood Development Have Been Worked Out, Minister Valchev Says
At a national conference dedicated to early childhood development on Thursday, Education and Science Minister Krasimir Valchev said: “We have worked out standards for early childhood development, which we will publish next week, but we will not rush to approve them. We will have at least three months in which to revise these standards.”
At the forum, organized by the Education and Science Ministry, the head of the Institute of Education to the Ministry, Prof. Galin Tsokov, presented a concept for a curriculum for the academic discipline Early Childhood Education and Care from birth to 3 years of age.
The forum focused on the proposed legislative changes to create a new professional qualification for Early Childhood Education and Care Specialist in response to the growing shortage of medical staff and specialists in nurseries and kindergartens.
“There are not enough places for children in nurseries in Sofia, and we must continue our efforts and investments to build nurseries. Another challenge is related to securing specialists, and there is a shortage of medical specialists in general and nurses in nurseries. We need between 2.5 and three-fold more nurses than those currently working in nurseries,” Valchev said.
He explained that medical care plays a leading role in early childhood, particularly for children aged 0 to 3. That is why this new academic discipline is being proposed, which is not part of Pedagogy but rather of Health Care. It will be a hybrid major.
The forum was opened by Deputy Education and Science Minister Natalia Mihalevska. Deputy Health Minister Dobromira Kareva also addressed the participants. The head of the Regional Department of Education in Sofia, Eleonora Lilova, attended the forum as well.
More than 150 professionals, experts, and specialists in the field of early childhood development participate in the national conference. Scientists, employer representatives and non-governmental organizations, kindergarten and nursery principals, nurses, and teachers attend the forum. The event aims to initiate the broadest possible dialogue with all stakeholders on the future training of specialists, the Education and Science Ministry said.
/KK/
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