site.btaMain Reason for Student Dropouts is Lack of Bulgarian Language Skills, Education Minister Says

The main reason for the accumulation of educational deficits and the dropout of some students from school education is the lack of Bulgarian language skills, Education and Science Minister Krasimir Valchev told journalists here on Monday, where he participated in a working meeting of the Nayden Gerov High School. 

He pointed out that all analyses show children from non-Bulgarian speaking families have a greater chance of integrating effectively when included earlier in the education system. He stated that it has been proposed in the Preschool and School Education Act to regulate such integration, and that first-grade students who do not speak Bulgarian will be tested and prescribed packages of 200, 500 or 800 hours of Bulgarian lessons. The changes are expected to come into effect from the 2026/27 school year.

In 2024, Eurostat reported for the first time that Bulgaria is below the average European rate of school dropouts, Valchev recalled, adding that the rate currently stands at 9.3%, while for many years it stood at 12-13%. 

Regarding sanctions, which are imposed on parents who have not enrolled their children in school, the minister stated that he does not believe that there will be a higher collection rate if the sanctions are collected by school principals, adding that all social and family benefits are tied to school attendance. "The system does not have enough mechanisms to force and punish them, so it compensates through persuasion and daily work", he said, noting that there are 12,000 teams working under the Mechanism for the Coverage of Children in the Education System. 

Attitudes in Roma communities are changing, with the big difference from 15-20 years ago being that many parents nowadays have a job, Valchev stated, adding however that there are still problems with daily attendance. "I appeal to all teachers, if children have deficits in any class, to work (with them) individually, and not to follow the curriculum," he commented.

Valchev also recalled that the external assessment tests have changed slightly in each of the last few years, with the goal being to have more practical tasks, adding that by the end of September, more sample tasks will be published on the website of the Education and Science Ministry. "Our most important goal is to change the culture of learning and to learn through understanding," Valchev emphasized.

Regarding the idea of ​​a mandatory matriculation exam in mathematics after the twelfth grade, Valchev indicated that it will be discussed once the problems with the curricula and exams are resolved. "We have a shortage of classes in all subjects, but it is most acutely felt in maths, chemistry and physics, where there are the weakest results and the most difficult content," the minister stressed.

He stated that the reasons for the poor results of Bulgarian students in the PISA study are known, noting that students are preparing to be shot putters, while life requires them to be sprinters.