site.bta Vice President Iotova Urges for Creation of Single Coordinating Centre for Expatriate Bulgarians

Vice President Iotova Urges for Creation of Single Coordinating Centre for Expatriate Bulgarians

Veliko Turnovo, North Central Bulgaria, May 11 (BTA) - Vice President Iliyana Iotova urged for creating a single coordinating centre for expatriate Bulgarians. On Thursday Iotova attended a celebration of the patron saints day of the Sts Cyril and Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo.

The Vice President said that the teaching of Bulgarian to Bulgarians living abroad should be regulated by the state, should start in secondary schools and should involve the Association of the Bulgarian Schools Abroad.

Iotova said she relies a lot on the new team at the Education and Science Ministry for the development of syllabi for expatriate Bulgarians. She quoted the findings of a survey of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, according to which about 15 million people in the world speak and use Bulgarian, who she said "deserve to be supported".

Iotova also urged for actions so that the Bulgarian language be included in lists of subjects for school-leaving certificate examinations for Bulgarian students. She said that this is one of the ways to motivate young Bulgarians abroad to learn their mother tongue.