site.bta143 Migrant Children Were Enrolled in Bulgarian Schools in 2015/2016 School Year

Sofia, October 17 (BTA) - One hundred and forty-three migrant children attended school in Bulgaria during the 2015/2016 school year, and 113 of them finished the educational level successfully, whereas 24 children were enrolled in kindergartens, Bulgarian Union of Teachers (BUT) Chair Yanka Takeva said here on Tuesday, speaking at a conference on "Migrant Children Schooling: Problems, Prospects, Solutions".

According to the State Agency for Refugees, there were 972 unaccompanied migrant children in Bulgaria by February 2017, Takeva said. In August 2017, protection seekers in this country numbered 2,633, of whom 827 were aged under 17 and were subject to enrolment in the Bulgarian educational system. Most underage refugees came from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Takeva has found figures showing that the number of unaccompanied migrant children in Bulgaria has increased compared to last year.

BUT has proposed that the stay of migrant children at refugee centres be reduced from six to four months so as to adjust it to the start of the school year or term, Takeva said. As she put it, "migrant children's parents are straddled between Bulgaria and Germany, which is why these children find it difficult to learn Bulgarian. These children want to learn more German and English than Bulgarian because their parents do not wish to stay in Bulgaria."

Takeva said that BUT has compiled a methodological aid for work with migrant children and a Manual for Migrants, to assist teachers in integrating and educating such children.