site.btaEducation Minister Says Bulgaria Is Among First Countries to Introduce Guidelines for Application of AI in Schools

At a news conference Friday, two days after outgoing Prime Minister handed the resignation of his Government to allow a Cabinet rotation with GERB-UDF, outgoing Education Galin Tzokov reported the performance of his Ministry.

The development of a modern educational and academic environment was and will continue to be key priority for the Education Ministry, said Tzokov.

It is difficult to make cardinal changes in the field of education in nine months, he pointed out.

An important and key priority in the Education Ministry’s work so far and in the coming months in the work of the Ministry of Education will be the development of a modern educational and academic environment, said Tzokov. He announced that "in the coming months, our schools, kindergartens and universities will turn into major construction sites,” with 33 new buildings of educational institutions to be built, over 30 student dormitories to be renovated, dozens of schools and kindergartens to be overhauled and annexed. The main target is to move over 22,000 students to single-shift education, he said, adding that state-of-the-art STEM centres would also be built in schools.

“To improve the quality of school and academic education, we have short-term goals for the development of digitalization in education and the improvement of the Digital Backpack platform, as well as the implementation of the guidelines for artificial intelligence,” Tzokov noted.

Bulgaria is one of the first countries in Europe and in the world to have guidelines for the application of artificial intelligence in support of teachers, as well as for the development of social and emotional skills in students, he stressed.

Tzokov said that next month Bulgaria will be the centre of a global event as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's global report on the study of social and emotional intelligence among students worldwide will be presented.