site.btaEducation Trade Union Conducts National Study on Formation of Values in Children and Students

The Trade Union "Education" with the Confederation of Labour "Podkrepa" conducted a national survey on the policy of upbringing and value system formation in children and students. The Ministry of Education and Science has adopted a strategy on upbringing, and the next step is to introduce relevant subjects like "Virtues and Religion". According to the trade union, the Bulgarian education system should not only build children's knowledge and skills, but also raise them to be good and responsible people, as goodness is formed through education, the teachers' organization said in a statement.

In Bulgarian educational history there have been similar subjects - such as "Religious Studies", "Civic Teaching", "Patriotic Education" and others, the trade union points out.

A total of 6,358 people participated in the union's survey, including pedagogical specialists (61.8%), pedagogical specialists with managerial functions (4.4%), non-pedagogical specialists (4.4%), parents (17.1%), students (0.7%), and other stakeholders (11.6%).

The age distribution shows that the highest proportion of respondents is between 45 and 55 years (31.1%), followed by the 35-45 year (21.3%) and 55-60 year (18.8%) groups.

Asked whether they approve of the introduction of a compulsory subject "Virtues and Religion" in the curriculum of Bulgarian schools, 80.2% of respondents answered affirmatively. Some 10.4% were against this idea, while 9.3% could not decide. This clearly shows the strong public support for the integration of moral and religious values in the education system, the trade union noted.

Regarding the level of upbringing and formation of values in Bulgarian schools, only 24.1% believe that the education system does a good job. The rest are adamant that upbringing is not a priority and is neglected. This reflects considerable dissatisfaction with the current practice and highlights the need for special attention to upbringing in schools.

When asked whether the education system in Bulgaria should produce not only successful and competent but also good people, 97.6% of respondents answered in the affirmative.

Only 0.6% think that goodness is incompatible with success, and 1.8% cannot decide.

The consensus on this question underscores the understanding that moral upbringing is integral to education and personal development.

Regarding the role of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in teaching Christian virtues among students, 76.1% of respondents believe that it should be more active, while 10.9% are of the opposite opinion, and 13% could not judge.

When asked whether the revival of faith and spiritual values will contribute to the development of a true value system in the future citizens of Bulgaria and the world, 85.2% of respondents answered positively, while only 7.6% said no. 

The unquestionable support for the introduction and teaching of virtues and religion testifies to the need for a solid moral foundation in the educational system.

The data also underlines a concern about the lack of adequate value orientation among students and the expectations for a more active role of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in this process, the survey highlights.

According to another survey by the Trade Union "Education", 87.4% of teachers, parents and stakeholders surveyed were in favour of the introduction of discipline scores for students. And 92.1% are in favour of banning phones in class, the union said.