site.btaAprilov National High School Receives President's Badge of Honour on Its 190th Anniversary

The Aprilov National High School in Gabrovo celebrates its 190th anniversary on Tuesday. It was the first secular school in the country.

The school received the President's Badge of Honour on the occasion, and the award was presented to the school's principal Elvira Hristova by the head of State's education advisor Dimitar Zdravkov.

When it was set up 190 years ago, the school used monitorial (also called Lancasterian) system of tuition. It was opened thanks to patriotic donors like Vassil Aprilov, Nikola Palauzov and Vassil Rasheev, among others. From 1872 the school became the First Comprehensive High School in the Bulgarian lands under domination. In 1889 it adopted the name of its donor, Vassil Aprilov, and became the Aprilov High School. In 1988 the school acquired high school status, and that of a national school - in 1992, acquiring the name of National Aprilov High School.

The President’s Badge of Honour is awarded for the established exemplary conditions and achieved excellent results in the education and upbringing of generations of students and for the primary role of the institution in building the foundations and forming the image of the modern education system and on the occasion of the 190th anniversary of the first secular new Bulgarian school. 

According to the school’s principal, it was home to the individuals who shaped the new Bulgarian state after the Liberation. "The roll of names of graduates of the Aprilov school sounds like a pantheon of heroes, the school is the temple that created and glorified them," Elvira Hristova said during the ceremony.

Education Minister Galin Tsokov called the national Aprilov High School "a symbol of the educational spirit and the aspiration for enlightenment of the Bulgarian people". He also addressed the students, who, according to him, today should be inquisitive, active and take full advantage of the opportunities provided by the school with traditions. According to Minister Tsokov, the teaching profession is a mission and especially at the Aprilov National High School, the teachers make the school one of the leading innovative schools in Bulgaria.

Bishop Matey of Nikopol wished that the education children receive "should be oriented towards Christian values, towards faith in the good, the true and the beautiful". 

Earlier today, the education minister participated in a meeting with tenth grade students in Gabrovo. The meeting was to introduce the Ministry of Education's national campaign "Just Say No. The event is organized simultaneously with the interactive game "The Aprilov’s Code " and are the first events of the observances to mark 190 years since the establishment of the Aprilov National School.