site.btaMinister Unveils Bill to Amend Vocational Educationand Training Act

Minister Unveils Bill to Amend Vocational Education and Training Act

Sofia, June 7 (BTA) - The first pupils to be covered by the future Vocational Education and Training Act will be the eighth-graders in the 2017/2018 school year, Education and Science Minister Meglena Kuneva said on Tuesday, addressing the Second National Conference on the Development of Vocational Education in Bulgaria. Kuneva presented draft amendments to the Vocational Education and Training Act which have been approved by the Council of Ministers and are due for conclusive adoption by the National Assembly. The conference was also attended by President Rosen Plevneliev.

Kuneva said the proposed amendments are aimed to promote practical learning based on labour market demand. She said there is now a map of vocational schools in Bulgaria, including those which offer dual education (education combined with apprenticeship). The map provides complete information to the business community, municipalities, parents and pupils about the geographical distribution of vocational education courses. It is available on the Internet site of the Education and Science Ministry and can be updated any time.

According to Kuneva, vocational education and training need an entirely new concept and a new law. It is imperative to change the prevailing view which favours higher education, she said. "It is better to be trained in a specific occupation which can give you a secure job, a good salary and good living standards than holding a university degree and having no job, and this is a message which should reach every corner of Bulgaria," she said. As an example, the minister noted that only 20 per cent of university graduates who have studied tourism find jobs corresponding to their specialty.

President Plevneliev stressed the importance of dual education for young Bulgarians. The kind of education which is combined with apprenticeship is an established tradition in such countries as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands, where unemployment, including youth unemployment, is lowest, he said.

Plevneliev pointed to the positive changes which have occurred since the First National Conference on the Development of Vocational Education. The number of schools and businesses bidding to become partners in vocational and dual education have increased for the 2016/2017 school year, he said. Fourteen more schools will join a Swiss dual education project and will offer three new courses of study. A bill has been drawn up to ensure that the new Preschool and School Education Act is compatible with the Vocational Education and Training Act, the President said.

Milena Damyanova, who chairs the Education and Science Committee in the National Assembly, said the proposed amendments to the Vocational Education and Training Act will be discussed by her committee next week and can be adopted conclusively by the end of July.