site.btaIT Business Wants to Train 6,000 High School Students Annually

IT Business Wants to Train 6,000 High School Students Annually

Sofia, July 11 (BTA) - The IT business wants to train 6,000 high school students annually. This transpired at a meeting of Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Meglena Kuneva with the management of the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASCOM), the press centre of the Ministry of Education and Science said on Monday.

The organization plans to finance its own dual education programme. "The IT university graduates are inadequate and, therefore, we turn towards secondary education," said BASCOM Chairman Stamen Kochkov. School children can acquire the skills of programme developers within 2-3 years. The Association also wants to train teachers. The business is developing pilot projects in three schools: the Baba Tonka Mathematical School in Rousse, the Mathematical School in Plovdiv and one school in Sofia. The organization will allocate up to 500,000 leva for this purpose, Kochkov also said. BASCOM insists that the State and, in particular, the Ministry of Education and Science supports financially the extension of the project to include up to 20 centres across the country. Students outside vocational education should also be covered, according to the organization.

Deputy Prime Minister Kuneva backed the project. "We would like to have long-term effect of the project and sustainability in order to ensure financing under the budget," said she. Kuneva outlined the important aspects: the added value of the project, the economic model, the start-up salary of the teachers and their motivation to get involved in IT education. Besides, it is important to see what percentage of these children find subsequently employment in the IT sector or enroll in such a programme at university, she added.