site.bta55,000 First-Graders Start School for First Time

More than 55,000 first-graders will cross the school threshold for the first time on Tuesday. The new school year will begin with the first school bell for more than 700,000 students at 2,322 schools across the country, the Ministry of Education and Science said in a press release.

More than 92,000 teaching professionals work in the education system, including more than 20,000 in kindergartens. A positive trend in recent years has been the growing number of young people joining the system, with nearly one in five teaching professionals now aged 35 or younger.

More than 2,000 newly established STEM centres will welcome students during the new school year. State and municipal schools, as well as centres for special educational support, will offer instruction in dedicated STEM spaces and high-tech, fully equipped and connected classrooms. The investment of more than EUR 250 million under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan will create opportunities for more practical tasks, experiments and project-based work, as well as for linking knowledge across different school subjects.

More than 600 school renovations were carried out across the country during the summer months to improve learning and working conditions for the new school year, the Ministry said.

The first school day has also arrived for thousands of Bulgarian children abroad. The new school year has begun for nearly 40,000 students at 410 Bulgarian Sunday schools in 44 countries.