site.btaTextbooks Up to 7th Grade to Be Digitized by First Day of School

All textbooks up to seventh grade will be digitized by the first day of school and will be available in the "digital backpack", Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said Wednesday during a briefing at the Council of Ministers on the measures the government is taking for the start of the academic year. Some publishing houses have already added virtual reality teaching aids, the Prime Minister said.

Denkov said that besides the digital medical notes, which will come into force on October 1 and are required in case of absence from school due to illness, several other digitization activities are being developed.

Denkov recalled that the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy provides one-time aid for all students in the first, second, third, fourth and eighth grades. He added: "That's nearly 166,000 children. These aids are BGN 300 each and are divided into two - at the beginning of the first term, and if the children attend classes during that term, the second half will be paid in the second term. This is one of the many measures we are trying to attract children to school, but also to create incentives to keep them there".

The Prime Minister reported that the Ministry of Interior is performing its latest campaign dedicated to road safety for children. As part of the campaign, nearly 600 school buses have already been inspected, and some 200 notices have been issued for minor technical problems. No serious deficiencies have been identified.

Denkov said that checks were being carried out to make sure that school food is up to standard.

Minister of Education and Science Galin Tzokov reported that discussions will continue until the end of September regarding curriculum changes.