site.btaAssociation of Bulgarian Schools Abroad Holds Annual Conference in Plovdiv

105 ECONOMY - EDUCATION - BULGARIAN SCHOOLS ABROAD - CONFERENCE

Association of Bulgarian
Schools Abroad Holds
Annual Conference in Plovdiv


July 27 (BTA) - The Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad held its annual conference in Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria) on Saturday. Addressing the participants in the forum, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov thanked Bulgarian teachers abroad for their patriotism and efforts, the Government Information Service reported. Vice President Iliana Iotova and Education and Science Minister Krassimir Vulchev also addressed the conference.

The forum, which focused on the topic of preserving the Bulgarian language and memory around the world, was co-organized by the Education and Science Ministry and the Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv.

In his address, Borissov stressed the Government's efforts to have more Bulgarian families living abroad return to Bulgaria, and the huge importance of the joint work with the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad. In his words, return migration happens when the home country offers better living conditions but also conditions for preparing the children of parents who wish to return. "Hundreds of families have turned to us with the wish to return," Borissov said.

The Prime Minister noted the Government's strong support in the field of education, and recalled that 700 million leva have been provided for repair works at nearly 1,000 schools in Bulgaria. Next year's budget will allocate a minimum of an additional 2 million leva for Bulgarian schools abroad, he said.

In her address, Iotova said that education abroad is the best policy with Bulgarian communities. She stressed the need of targeted state policies for preserving Bulgarian self-awareness and getting Bulgarians to return to their home country.

The Vice President noted the importance of Sunday schools for the distribution of the Bulgarian language and culture abroad, and she described these schools as a very important part of Bulgaria's cultural diplomacy.

According to Iotova, the next national census should include the Bulgarians living permanently or long-term abroad in order to determine the scale for the development of the policy on these Bulgarians in the coming years.

Iotova underscored the success of Bulgarian MEPs with a petition for recognizing the Bulgarian language for graduation, and said that the negotiations on bilateral agreements continue. She described as a big step forward the new opportunity to be offered by the Ministry of Education and Science: applying from abroad with a Bulgarian language exam and a general matriculation exam.

Education and Science Minister Krassimir Vulchev said that a qualification programme begins for new teachers in Bulgarian Sunday schools abroad. According to him, supporting these schools is an example of a good policy in the last twelve years. Back then, Sunday schools numbered 50, while now they are nearly 400 and teach nearly 30,000 children, he said.

IG/DS


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