site.btaFirst Graders Total 64,841 This School Year, All Pupils Amount to 757,969

First Graders Total 64,841 This School Year, All Pupils Amount to 757,969

Sofia, September 15 (BTA) - Bulgaria has 64,841 first graders in the 2015-2016 school year, and all pupils from first to twelfth grade amount to 757,969. The teachers total 68,891, Education and Science Minister Todor Tanev said on the occasion of the school year's start on Tuesday.

Deputy Education and Science Minister Vanya Kastreva specified that the conclusive number of first graders will become clear after September 15. She noted that of the nearly 65 000 first grades in Bulgaria, around 11,000 will study in Sofia, which is by 500 children less compared to 2014-2015.

Tanev said that all 2,564 schools in the county are ready for the new year. The free textbooks for first to seventh graders have also been provided, he added.

The Education and Science Ministry said that this school year there will be unexpected checks in schools for pupils registered as attending but existing only on paper. Tanev noted that a preliminary check has started and the 16 schools checked thus far had 505 such pupils, half of whom were registered as attending individual or night classes. School directors have been penalized for these violations, the minister added.

According to Tanev, one of the countermeasures is to reduce the number of pupils necessary for filling up a class. Most schools need at least 18 pupils to form a class, and the Education Ministry will try to reduce this number so that it can be legitimate, but the issue is financial and has to be coordinated with the Finance Ministry, Tanev explained.

Following the teachers' big strike in the autumn of 2007, schools are funded through delegated budgets, with the resources being allocated in accordance with the single expenditure standards for the pupils' provision. The average standard per pupil is around 1,400 leva a year.