Stara Zagora Region Implements 116 STEM Classroom Projects, Says Regional Information Centre Manager

Filip Pavlov, BTA correspondent Irina Shopova

Regional Information Centre Manager Radka Tileva at the local conference in Stara Zagora within the Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project, February 26, 2025 (BTA Photo/Boyan Botev)

Stara Zagora, South Central Bulgaria,

26.02.2025 13:01

(BTA)

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In Stara Zagora Region, 116 projects for establishing STEM classrooms are being implemented, worth a total of BGN 26.5 million, Regional Information Centre Manager Radka Tileva told a local conference within BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project. The conference took place at the BTA National Press Club here on Wednesday.

Tileva noted that these projects are financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. She recalled the European initiatives for improving education, saying that innovations in education play a key role in adapting curricula to the needs of the modern labour market and in developing the region's intellectual potential.

She said that nine procedures have been announced and completed under the Education Programme in the 2021-2027 programming period, with Trakia University having a contract for the implementation of a project titled "Support for the Development of Project Doctoral Studies", with a grant of over BGN 2.1 million.

Tileva also noted a project with an indicative investment value of BGN 750,000 carried out by the Natural Sciences and Mathematics High School of Stara Zagora under the Education Programme. Its goals are to improve the quality of vocational education and the student-school-parent-employer relationship, as well as to increase the number of motivated students and business owners for the implementation of the dual education system.

She recalled that the total contracted budget of the Human Resources Development Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period was BGN 2.6 million, with 41 contracts worth close to BGN 10.7 million concluded in Stara Zagora Region. The total contracted budget of Operational Programme Science and Education for Smart Growth was BGN 1.3 billion, with 10 contracts worth nearly BGN 6 million concluded in this region.

BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project aims to raise public awareness and foster open dialogue about cohesion policy, local achievements, and the implementation of the EU's policy priorities. The project kicked off with a conference in Veliki Preslav in November 2024. Until September 2025, BTA will host discussions at its press clubs in the following cities: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kazanlak, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Razgrad, Ruse, Samokov, Svishtov, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Troyan, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen, and Yambol. Cross-border conferences will be held in Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Bucharest, Edirne, Skopje, and Thessaloniki. The project builds on the Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future and Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future projects, implemented by BTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

/DD/