site.btaNational Programme for Training Teachers for Bulgarian Schools Abroad to Be Launched Next Year

Sofia, December 2 (BTA) - A national programme will be launched
next year to train teachers for Bulgarian schools abroad,
exchange educational innovations and organize forums to share
successful practices in working with bilingual children, Deputy
Education and Science Minister Denitsa Sacheva said. She was
speaking at a Balkan forum in Istanbul, entitled "Strategies for
 Bulgarian Language Learning in a Foreign Language Environment,"
 her ministry reported on Monday.

There are more than 400 Bulgarian schools in 50 foreign
countries, the press release said. Over 2,000 teachers work with
 50,000 students in these schools. More than half of the
students attend extra-curricular activities aimed to preserve
their Bulgarian cultural and national identity, Bulgarian
folklore and traditions.

The forum, hosted by the Sunday School of the Bulgarian
Exarchate in Istanbul, involved the sharing of good practices
and a discussion on the training of teachers. It was attended by
 teachers from Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Greece, North
Macedonia and Turkey.

Sacheva also visited Istanbul University. She and University
Rector Mahmut Ak considered the possibility to introduce the
study of the Bulgarian language and literature at the Department
 of Slavic Languages and Literatures. The idea is supported by
the Faculty of Letters. The sides reached agreement to set up a
Bulgarian section at the library of Istanbul University.

The study of Bulgarian as a second foreign language was launched
 at Istanbul University this autumn, with six students signed up
 for the course. Sacheva met with the students and gave them
their first Bulgarian-language textbooks and works by Bulgarian
poets and writers. RY/VE