site.btaTeachers Trade Union Argues that Policy for Inclusion, Keeping Students in School is Ineffective and Formal

112 POLITICS-EDUCATION-TRADE UNION-POSITION

Teachers Trade Union Argues that Policy for
Inclusion, Keeping Students in School is
Ineffective and Formal


Sofia, August 31 (BTA) - The policy for including students in school and keeping them there implemented in the past 30 years is ineffective and formal. The tools the Education and Science Ministry has at its disposal to intervene in this respect are weak, lack weight and public support, and are ignored by the political class, the members of the Education trade union, part of the Podkrepa Labour Confederation, say in a position publicized on Friday.

According to the trade union, elsewhere in the world the policy for ensuring access to education is determined and implemented by the state, whereas in Bulgaria it is left in the hands of teachers and school principals.

The trade union urges the state to assume its functions, introduce compulsory pre-schooling of children who have reached three years of age, whereby the state fully funds the pre-school stage. In the current situation, a student is accepted in the first grade unconditionally, even if the child has not attended pre-school.

The trade union argues that as things stand now, there are tangible differences in how families raise their children while the institutions are "viciously" tolerant towards certain social groups. The trade union stresses the importance of preparing children for school in the relevant establishments, otherwise teachers lose much effort and time to compensate for deficits and attain an acceptable level of student conduct and socialization.

The trade union stresses the acute need for the social services and the police to intervene in the work for covering and keeping pupils in school.

The trade union lists a number of deficiencies of the Bulgarian education system, such as complicated communication with some parents, huge increase in the paperwork which deters prospective candidates to join the teaching profession, high average age of teaching staff, shortage of experts in the regional directorates for education, etc.

The trade union notes it has made dozens of proposals to tackle the increasing amount of paperwork, but the problem continues to grow and is yet unsolved. The trade union says it will participate in the working group set up by the Ministry for tackling the administrative burden provided that the group demonstrates and proves in practice that it will pass concrete and workable changes. Otherwise, Podkrepa's Education trade union will leave the working group and come up with separate actions to cope with the problem.

The position of the trade union, chaired by Julian Petrov, comes a day after Education and Science Minister Krassimir Vulchev announced that his Ministry has registered 24,000 school dropouts who have returned back to the education system. RY/ZH//