site.btaSchool Begins for 66,497 First Graders, School Education Act Needed

School Begins for 66,497 First Graders, School Education Act Needed

Sofia, September 15 (BTA) - School in Bulgaria began on
September 15 for 721,480 pupils, the Education and Science
Ministry said. This year there are 66,497 first graders in the
country, the highest number being in Sofia City, 10,639
children, and the lowest number in Vidin (on the Danube), 788
children.

Deputy Education and Science Minister Vanya Kastreva said
first-grade pupils in 2014 are 300 more than last year but the
exact number will be known at the end of September.

Repairs are under way in more than 50 schools around the country
but this will not disrupt classes.

The badly flood-damaged school in Dobrich (Northeastern
Bulgaria) was overhauled and opened on Monday to nearly 880
students. Institutions and sponsors invested over 160,000 leva
in the renovation of the kitchen and dining area for 400
students, of the first graders' classrooms and science rooms.

President Rosen Plevneliev went to the Secondary School of
Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Blagoevgrad (Southwestern
Bulgaria) where he studied. Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki was
at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia.
Nearly all ministers attended the formal opening in schools
around the country, usually the one they finished.

As many as 427 students aged between 19 and 62 gathered in the
prison compound in Stara Zagora (Southern Bulgaria) for the
opening of the school year. They are taught in grades from first
to 12th. There are 69 first graders, the oldest being 57 years
of age.

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov, who
attended the opening of the prison's school year, said:
"Everybody has the right to a second chance but they must show
they deserve it first."

Deputy Prime Minister and Labour and Social Policy Minister
Yordan Hristoskov said in Plovdiv that between 48,000 and 49,000
first graders would get a one-off allowance of 250 leva each
for the first school day. More than 30,000 families have been
paid this amount so far.

On the first school day Culture Minister Martin Ivanov opened
Book Lane in central Sofia, featuring stalls of more than 30
Bulgarian publishers. The event organized by the Bulgarian Book
Association and the municipal authority will be on until
September 20. Some of its highlights are book readings, readers'
club and meetings with Bulgarian writers.

Asylum Seekers' Children Ostracized

In the village of Kovachevtsi (Western Bulgaria) the municipal
council did not allow immigrants' children to join school.
Council Chairman Ventsislav Todorov said: "We do not accept
integration where Bulgarians are in the minority and Somalis and
Afghans who have not been granted any status are in the
majority." He added that two local children had been enrolled in
first grade along with seven Somali and Afghan children.
Eighteen local children have been enrolled in the village school
and 12 foreigners have expressed a wish to join them. They have
not studied Bulgarian and have not taken an exam at the
Regional Inspectorate of Education, therefore they cannot be
enrolled, the councillors argued. Parents reportedly do not want
their children to study in classes in which Bulgarians are in
the minority.

Local people also talked about the children's green complex
which had been turned into a centre for Syrian refugees.
However, there are no Syrians there now, only Afghans and
Somalis with no status, Todorov also said. He urged that the
green complex be restored: "It used to accommodate 100,000
children a year for international festivals or green school, now
it has turned into a rubbish heap."

Education Minister Roumyana Kolarova said that although an
alternative can always be found, it is best for the children to
attend school in the municipality where they live. She expressed
a hope that earlier incidents had taught Bulgarian society not
to show intolerance and hostility to children who most need love
and support. She added that the immigrants' children in
Kovachevtsi would go to a Bulgarian school and study in
Bulgarian.

School Education Act Needed

The school year began without a new School Education Act. The
Public Education Act adopted in October 1991 has been amended
many times.

Asen Alexandrov, principal of Sofia's 51st school and advisor to
one of the education ministers in recent years, told BTA that a
new law is needed as the first step to drawing up new curricula
and then new textbooks. He is strongly concerned that the
informatics curriculum is downright outdated. It dates from 2001
and does not include IT concepts such as "social networks" and
"tablet".

Alexandrov identifies as a weakness the fact that strategies and
plans are written with no financial provisions for their
implementation. School discipline and the attitude of parents
and students also leave much to be desired. The school principal
said the use of mobile phones in the classroom is no small
problem because it distracts students and affects their
performance. SN, VI/DD, DS