site.btaEuropean Commissioner Navracsics Participates in Education Forum in Sofia

European Commissioner Navracsics Participates in Education Forum in Sofia

Sofia, July 18 (BTA) - More and more countries in the EU, including Bulgaria, are realizing that education is a national priority, not one of the national priorities, Deputy Prime Minister and Education and Science Minister Meglena Kuneva said. She was speaking at Monday's regional conference "Promoting investment in education through the instruments and funds of the European Union: Opportunities for Bulgaria and Romania" organized by the European Commission. European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics also participated in the forum.

This is the fourth working meeting to promote investment in education and Sofia was chosen because Bulgaria is in the process of implementing an educational reform, Navracsics said. Bulgaria has a very active educational sector, teachers and politicians committed to making the Bulgarian school competitive. Bulgaria is an active participant in the Juncker Plan, investing 1 million euro in the European Commission's Investment Plan for Europe, the Commissioner said. Navracsics encourages the idea for investment in education because Europe is lagging behind in terms of public expenditure in this sector.

Digital skills are among the most important ones and not only students but their teachers too should have them, the Commissioner said. That is why good and flexible forms of teacher training should be sought.

To date, European structural and investment funds were the main instruments in the sphere of education, as well as the Erasmus+ programme, in which Bulgaria is an active participant, Kuneva said. When the Juncker Plan was announced in 2014, European business gave free reign to offer publicly significant projects. Today, however, it turns out that the main projects in 18 months are focused on energy, urbanisation, infrastructure, Internet access, while few are aimed at health care, Kuneva said. There are also projects for research and innovations, but in Bulgaria, in the region and all across Europe there are no projects related to education, vocational education or lifelong learning, she added. This is a missed opportunity, the minister commented, asking how the ideas about the industrialization of Europe as the most competitive economy will be achieved and how young and talented people will remain in Bulgaria, Romania or Europe as a whole.

The most important political path in Europe is 'cooperate' because this will be the motto of the EU for at least a decade, Kuneva noted, expressing hope for joint projects with Romania, Greece and other countries in the region.