site.btaNew Income Boost Is Part of "Important Policy to Develop Higher Education and Science"

Education and Science Minister Galin Tsokov said on Monday that the salary increase at state-run universities and scientific institutions, decreed by the government earlier in the day, is part of an important policy for the development of higher education and scientific research in Bulgaria.

Commenting on the BGN 184 million allocation, Tsokov recalled at a government briefing that approximately BGN 80 million was extended a few months ago to raise the salaries of the teaching and non-teaching staff at academic institutions.

He said: "This new allocation of BGN 184 million will boost the salary of assistant professors, the lowest academic rank, to BGN 2,516 per month. This means that the assistant professor salary has increased by BGN 1,000 in a year, which is a significant investment in the youth, the intellect and the future of Bulgaria."

Tsokov said his ministry is in the middle of talks with the social partners and the Council of Rectors to ensure that the money necessary to make academic staff income equivalent to 180% of the average gross salary in Bulgaria is not distributed according to staff size but according to two main coefficients. One of the coefficients should be geared towards boosting the incomes in the lowest-financed professional groups, and the other one should be based on the quality of teaching.

The new package will benefit 20,000 employees in the higher education system, including academic staff and people assisting the technical, research and creative aspects of academic activity, said Lilyana Valcheva, who heads the Higher Education Union of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria.