TheBulgarianeducationalsystemandevaluation

oftheISCED97implementation
DobrinkaKostova

TheeducationalsysteminBulgaria

Schooleducationiscompulsoryfromage6/7toage16.Itcomprisesbasiceduca
tion (osnovno obrazovanie/ ) (years 1 to 8) which is divided
into:firststage(natchalenetap/)(years1to4,ISCEDlevel1)and
second stage (progimnazialen etap ) (years 5 to 8, ISCED
level2).Basiceducationcanbeobtainedatstate,municipalandprivateschools.It
isfreeofchargewiththeexceptionofprivateschools.Thereisasinglecurriculum
forprimaryeducationwhichiscompulsoryforallpupilsfromyears1to4;more
over, in these years teachers work with one class. After successful completion of
yearfour,acertificate(IV)isissued.Thecertifi
cateincludestheannualscoreinthesubjectsstudiedinyearfour,aswellasthe
scoreobtainedinthechosen/optionalsubjects.
Lowersecondaryeducation(progimnazialenetap/)(years5
to 8) lays thefoundations for studying the basics of different sciencesand atthe
endofthiseducationpupilsshouldhaveacquiredsuchskills.Acertificateofbasic
education (Svidetelstvo za zavurcheno osnovno obrazovanie/
) is issued after the successful completion of
yeareight.Thecertificateincludestheannualscoreobtainedinthesubjectsstud
ied in year eight, as well as the scores obtained in the chosen subjects. A pupil
passesfrombasicschooltosecondaryschoolwithouthavingtopassanentrance
examination, by using the basic school certificate. Entry into profileoriented
schools (e.g. mathematic or language oriented school) after completing their
courseinyear7or8(languageschools,schoolofmathematics,technicalschools,
etc.) is on the basis of entrance examinations. In the academic year 2001/02 the
number of public schools was: 368 primary (grades 14), 22 lower secondary
(grades 58), 1,829 basic secondary (grades 18). There were 55 private general
schools. The net enrolment rate in the primary education is 96.4%, in the lower
secondary84.2%.
Secondary general education (sredno obchto obrazovanie/
,ISCEDlevel3A[general])coverspupilsfromyears9to12(13)andis
again free of charge with the exception of private schools. It is provided by: (1)

TheBulgarianeducationalsystem

163

Figure1. TheBulgarianeducationalsystem
Tertiaryeducation

DoctoralStudies

MAdegreeat
university**

Colleges
(Kolej)
5B

5A(1st,long)

6
MAdegree
atuniversity,5A(2nd)
BAdegreeat
university**
5A(1st,medium)

27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19

Voc.Colleges4C
(Profession.kolej)
4

VETlevel1* SecondaryTechnical
3C school(Professionalna
gimnazia/Technikum)

2A(gen)

Primary

Progymnasiums
(Progimnazialnoutchilishte)
Basicschools
(Natchalnoutchilishte)

Kindergarten
(Detskagradina)

*professionalqualificationsmainlyaimedatadults.
**additionallyrequirespassingofanentranceexamination.

3A(gen)
Grammarschool
(Gimnazia)

PrePrim.

Sec.I

VETlevel1*
2A(voc)

3A(gen)
Specialisthigh
schools
(Profilirana
Gimnazia)

18
12
17
11
16
10
15
9
14
8
13
7
12
6
11
5
10
4
9
3
8
2
7
1
6 yearsof
5 schooling
4
3
yearsofage
Compulsoryeducation

Sec.II

3A(voc)

secondary comprehensive schools (SCS), which cover: school grades 1 to 4; pre

secondary school grades 5 to 8; and secondary school level grades 9 to 12; (2)
specialisedsecondaryschools,i.e.profiledgymnasia,1(grades8to12);(3)secon
dary schools, i.e. gymnasia, (grades 9 to 12). In 2001/02, 160 uppersecondary
schools(grades912),393secondarycomprehensiveschools(grades112)and40
secondarycomprehensiveschools(grades512)wereoperating.67%ofstudents
intheagegroup1519continuetheirpostcompulsoryeducation,29%(about40%
ofallstudentswithcompulsoryeducation)ingymnasiaand38%(about57%ofall
studentswithcompulsoryeducation)invocationalortechnicalschools.Aftersuc
cessfulcompletionofthelastyearofsecondaryschoolandpassingthecompulsory
matriculationexaminations,aDiplomaofcompletedsecondaryeducation(Diploma
za sredno obrazovanie/ ) is issued. Holders of
secondary school leaving qualifications (Diploma za sredno obrazovanie) are enti

Public opinion considers the profiled gymnasia to be the elite, and the education they
providetobeofhighquality.

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Kostova

tledtocontinuetheireducationonahighereducationallevel(universityandnon
university), without restriction as to the choice of a higher education establish
ment. The secondary school leaving qualification gives also access to the labour
market.
Secondary vocational education ( ) is pro
videdinvocationaltrainingschoolsand/ortechnicalschools,i.e.technikumorvo
cationalgymnasiasince2003/04(ISCEDlevel3A[vocational],coveringgrades8/9
to12).Graduatesreceiveasecondaryeducationdiplomaandacertificateforsec
ondorthirdlevelvocationalqualification(vocationaltheoryandpracticeexams).
Estimates are that many of the students from this type of school continue with
highereducation.
There are also vocational training schools (from grade 6 or 7) offering threeyear
trainingprogrammes(ISCED2Avocational);vocationaltrainingschools(fromgrade
9)offeringuptofouryeartrainingprogrammes(ISCED3C)andvocationaltraining
schoolsofferingtwoyeartrainingprogrammesaftercompletedsecondaryeduca
tion(asaruleISCEDlevel4C).Uponcompletionofvocationaltrainingschoolsstu
dentscancontinueinothertypesofsecondaryschoolsinthecaseof2A(voc)and
3Cschoolsandintheuniversityinthecaseof4C.
In2004/05,vocationaleducationwascarriedoutin19artschools,459vocational
gymnasia, 5 vocational schools and 17 postsecondary vocational colleges. There
alsoexisted43privateVETschools.Thecompletionofsecondaryvocationaleduca
tioniscertifiedwithaschoolleavingcertificateforasuccessfulcompletionofsec
ondaryeducationandacertificateforprofessionalqualification,issueduponcom
pletionofvocationaltrainingandgrantingtherighttopracticeaprofession.Certifi
cate for secondary specialised education (
)aswellasacertificateforprofessionalqualification(
a)areissued.
Vocationaleducationandtrainingwhichisprovidedthroughsandwichtypetrain
ing,specificallyapprenticeships,arenotacommonpracticeinBulgaria.Thetheo
reticalandpracticalpartoftheapprenticeshipistheresponsibilityoftheemploy
ers. The training is provided in the companys training centres (this is rather sel
dom)orintheschoolsoftheformalvocationaltrainingontherequestofemploy
ers.2 Education/training establishments are: state and municipal training centres,
company training centres ( /professionalni utchilishta),
vocational schools and vocational colleges ( /
professionalnikoleji).Companytrainingcentres()organ

ThereisanopinionthatBulgarianVETcurriculaarehighlyjobspecificandstillprepare
students for jobs that no longer exist. Such schools are often in poor financial shape:
theirequipmentisoutdates,salarypaymentforstaffareirregular,andutilitycostsare
high.

TheBulgarianeducationalsystem

165

isetrainingasfollows:threeyearsaftergrade6(13yearsofage),twoyearsafter
grade 7 (14 years of age) and up to fouryear courses after grade 8 (15 years of
age).Studentswhofinishschoolingafterthelevelofbasiceducationwithdifferent
levelsofvocationalqualificationdonotearnanothereducationallevelbutonlydif
ferent vocational skills. Students receive a certificate for first, second, third or
fourthlevelvocationalqualification,whichgivesaccesstodifferentprofessions.
Vocational colleges ( , ISCED level 4C) organise post
secondary vocational training with duration up to two years after completion of
secondary education. Graduates receive a certificate for fourthlevel professional
qualification,whereascontinuationtohighereducationallevelsispossibleonthe
basis of students secondary diplomas. Experience shows that youth who do not
passuniversityentranceexamsusuallygotosuchcolleges.
Holders of secondary school leaving qualifications (Diploma of Secondary Educa
tion)areentitledtocontinuetheireducationonahighereducationallevel(univer
sity),withoutrestrictionastothechoiceofahighereducationestablishment.35%
oftheagegroup1924wasenrolledintertiaryeducationintheyear1999/2000.
The proportion of school leavers going on to tertiary education is even higher
60%.Therewasa40%increaseinstudentnumbersintertiaryeducationbetween
1990/1991and1999/2000,withthemainsurgeoccurringbetween1990/1991and
1996/97.Onlyabout10%ofallstudentsareenrolledinprivateinstitutions.
Admissiontohighereducationinstitutionsisbasedonsuccessfulentranceexami
nations.Thetypeandnumberoftheseexaminationsaredeterminedbythehigher
educationinstitutionsandarecloselylinkedtoitsrespectiveprofile.Incompliance
withtheBolognaprocess,importantamendmentstotheHigherEducationActbe
cameeffective.Thusamodelcomprisingunderandpostgraduatelevelshasbeen
introducedsince2004.TheundergraduatelevelcomprisestheSpecialistin(ISCED
5B),aswellastheBachelor'sdegree(ISCED5A),whilethepostgraduatelevelgives
the possibility to students to choose between Master's degree (ISCED 5A), which
givesadditionalknowledgeandskillsandbetterchancesatthelabourmarket,and
Doctoral programmes (ISCED 6) where predominantly young researchers are
trained.
The1995HigherEducationActintroducedthenonuniversitytypeofhighereduca
tion provided by colleges (, ISCED level 5B). They offer a threeyear pro
grammeforvocationallyorientededucationinvariousfieldswithaviewtoobtain
ing the degree of Specialist in [subject]. They are mainly incorporated within the
structureoftheuniversities.Theymayalsobeindependent,providedtheyfulfilthe
compulsory academic and material requirements. According to the Higher Educa
tionAct,UniversityeducationinstitutionsinBulgariaare(universi
ties),(specialisedhighereducationinstitutions),
(institutes),(academies),etc.Therearealsocollegeswhich
arenonuniversitytypeofhighereducationinstitutions.In2001/02,therewerein

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total90establishmentsforhigherlearning,includingprivateones.37statehigher
education institutions were functioning in the country, training specialists for the
degreesof(Bachelor,ISCEDlevel5A),(Master,ISCEDlevel
5A) and the scientific educational degree (Doctor, ISCED level 6). There
werealso42statecolleges,5privateuniversitiesandspecialisedinstitutionsand6
privatecolleges.Universitiesprovideawiderangeofspecializationinatleastthree
orfourbasicfieldsofstudy(humanities,socialandnaturalsciences,management,
engineering and architecture, etc.) and cover a considerable number of scientific
areas.3Auniversitycanalsocarryoutpreparationinoneortwobasicfieldsofsci
enceandculture.Inthiscasetheuniversity'sspecializationisreflectedinitsname.
Specialised higher schools (academies and institutes) carry out scientific activities
and education in basic fields of science, arts, sports and military science. Their
namesdenotetheirareaofspecialization.Thestructureofhighereducationcom
prisesthefollowingdegrees:(1)firstdegreeatleastafouryearprogrammeend
ingwithaBachelorsdegree;(2)seconddegreeatleastafiveyearprogrammeor
one/twoyearsaftertheBachelorsdegreeendingwithaMastersdegree;(3)third
degree at least a threeyear programme after covering the Masters degree or
fouryearaftercoveringtheBachelor'sdegree,endingwithaDoctorsdegree.

RemarksconcerningtheapplicationoftheISCED97
inBulgaria

ThemethodologyofcollectinginformationoneducationinBulgariaisbasedonthe
ISCED97.SomepeculiaritiesoftheimplementationoftheISCED97formeasuring
educational enrolments could be mentioned. Pupils that are in preparatory class
before first grade are classified in the ISCED 1 group as the programme for their
studiesisclosertotheelementary(basic)educationthantotheoneinkindergar
ten.TheprogrammeisdevotedtothestudyofBulgarianandmathematics,aiming
atbetterpreparationforelementaryschool.Pupilsinclass8,acceptedinthespe
cial (language, arts, etc.) and professional secondary schools after enrolment in
grade7,areclassifiedinlevelISCED3Aasthisclassisapartofthespecialsecon
daryorprofessionalschoolprogrammes.Pupilsinvocationalschoolsacceptedaf
terenrolmentingrades6and7areclassifiedinlevelISCED2A,whilepupilsfrom
professionalschoolsacceptedafterclass8areclassifiedasISCED3C.
InthecaseofBulgaria,thelackofdifferentiationwithinsecondaryeducationbe
tween technical and general studies (i.e. between 3A general and 3A vocational)
doesnotallowanalysingsignificantgender,regionalandeducationalqualitydiffer
ences.OfimportancearealsothedifferencesbetweenBachelorandMasterStud

Itisinterestingtonotethatduringtheyearsofstudentexpansion,therewasamassive
influxintotheEducationalscienceandEconomics.

TheBulgarianeducationalsystem

167

ies,whicharecurrentlyhardlyreflectedbytheISCED97.Thisdifferentiationisre
centandthemajorityofthestudentstilltwoyearsagowereallhavingMasterde
grees;butwithregardtothefutureitisrelevanttodifferentiatebetweenBachelor
and Master Studies. These two groups are significant in size and are put in one
category, while the 5B group is a separate category although there are only few
studentsinit.

EducationalattainmentandenrolmentinBulgaria

Duringtheperiod20002004,theeducationalstructureofthepopulationaged25
64continued to improve following the clearcut tendency towards an increase of
theshareofthepopulationwithhigherandsecondaryeducationtogetherwiththe
decreaseoftheshareofpeoplewithprimaryandlowereducationonly.Therela
tive share of the population with higher education (college and university) in
creasedfrom18%in2000to22%in2004andtheshareofthosewithuppersecon
daryeducationremainsthesame50%.Paralleltothistherelativeshareofper
sons with primary and lower education decreased from 32% to 28%. This means
that 72% of the population of working age (2564 years old) have secondary or
higher education. More detailed statistics on the various educational stages are
presentedinthefollowingparagraphs.

3.1

Generaleducation(GE):primarythroughuppersecondary
education

In the school year 2004/05, according to the statistical information (NSI, 2005)
thereare2,657generaleducationschools.Outofthese,291areprimaryschools,
1,763arebasicschools,21lowersecondaryschools,167secondaryand415com
binedschools(SES).Incomparisonwiththepreviousschoolyear,thetotalnumber
ofgeneralschoolsdecreasedby39,outofwhich36wereinruralareas.
During2004/05,thenumberofstudentsis758,000,ofwhich163,500wereinrural
areas.Incomparisonwiththepreviousschoolyear,thenumberofstudentsingen
eraleducationdecreasedby4.8%.Incomparisonwith2000/01,thenumberofstu
dentsinGEhasdecreasedby12.6%.Forprimaryandpresecondaryeducation,this
reductionis22.4%and14.8%respectively.Forsecondaryeducationthereisanin
creaseof17.6%duetotheprolongedtermofeducationandincreasedenrolment
inthistypeofeducationbyyoungpeopleofthisage.
Recentdata(NSI,2005)showthatin2000/01,69.9%ofthestudentsinGEstudya
foreignlanguage,andthisproportionincreasesto87.3%in2004/05.Thegreatest
interest is towards English which is studied by 74.7% of the students who study
foreignlanguages.

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Kostova

In 2004, 77,600 students graduated from basic education and 33,000 from lower
secondaryinthegeneraleducationschools.
During2003/04,23,100studentshaveleftGEwithoutfinishingit,ofwhich19,200
leftbasicschools.Oneshouldnotconsiderthemashavinglefttheeducationonce
andforeverthough.Itispossiblethattheywillcontinueinanotherschoolorinthe
nextyear,aseducationiscompulsoryuntiltheageof16.Thelargestshareofstu
dentsleavingschoolisforfamilyreasons(47.1%ofallleavingstudents).Thepor
tionofthosewhointerruptedtheireducationastheydonotwanttostudyiscon
siderable(24.5%).
As of 1/10/2004, there are 56 private general schools in Bulgaria. Out of these,
there are 5 primary schools, 24 basic and lower secondary, 23 upper secondary
schoolsand4combinedschools.Only0.8%ofthetotalnumberofGEschoolchil
drenstudyinprivateschools.
Studentswithachronicillness,handicappedchildrenandstudentsinanunderprivi
legedsocialposition(permanentlyortemporarilywithoutparentsandfamilies)are
studyingin127specialschools.Theseareintotal13,300pupils.

3.2

Vocationaleducationandtraining(VET)

The distribution of vocational schools in Bulgaria meets predominantly regional

needs.Someoftheschoolsofferthesamevocationalfieldsasthoseneededinen
terprises.Morethanhalfofallvocationalschoolsaresituatedinthebiggertowns.
ThesystemofVETpreparesstudentsforthelabourmarketbycreatingconditions
foracquiringvocationalqualifications(BNO,1998;1999).From2004/05,students
fromVETgetonlyasecondaryeducationdiplomaiftheydonottakeastateexam
foracquiringadegreeofvocationalqualification.
BulgariafacestwomainchallengeswithregardtoVET:(1)theimplementationof
the VET Law adopted in July 1999, which complements the Public Education Act;
and(2)theharmonisationofitsVETsystemanditsnationalneedswiththoseof
theEuropeanUnion.Thekeyissuesare:

decentralisationoftheVETsystem;
optimisationoftheVETschoolnetwork;
cooperationbetweenVETandthelabourmarket;
efficiencyandqualityofVET;
sustainingVETreform.

PrioritiesaretoupdateVETstandards,andtofurtherdevelopassessmentandcer
tification.Withregardtoemploymentandsocialaffairs,theobjectivessetbythe
Bulgariangovernmentforhumanresourcedevelopmentandlabourmarketpolicy
correspondwellwiththeprioritiesidentifiedbytheEuropeanCommission.

TheBulgarianeducationalsystem

3.3

169

Tertiaryeducation

As a whole, tertiary education in Bulgaria is characterised by a steep rise in the

numbersofstudentsinhighereducation,from120,000in1990to258,000in2000
and an increase in the interest to study(Boyadjieva, 1998;Brunner,1999). There
are145,489studentsinstateand21,270intheprivateuniversitiesintheacademic
year 2004/05. Among those, 74,269 and 10,880 respectively are males. Addition
ally,intheacademicyear2004/05,thereare49,648studentsinstateuniversities
intheextramuralmodeofeducationand2,711inthedistancemodeoflearning.
The respective numbers for private universities are 16,015 and 1,812. The total
numberofstudentsintheacademicyear2004/05is214,400,and96.3%ofthem
areBulgariancitizens.Thetotalnumberofstudentsenrolledinthefoureducation
qualificationdegreesspecialist,bachelor,masteranddoctoris237,900.
During the academic year 2004/05, the number of universities and specialised
higher schools were 43, of which 7 were private. In the structure of students by
fieldofeducation,thehighestrelativeshareisthatofthestudentsinthefieldof
Business and Administration (24.0%), followed by Engineering and Engineering
Trades (16.5%). The share of students is lowest in the Life Sciences (0.9%), Envi
ronmentalProtection(0.8%),Veterinary(0.7%)andMathematicalSciences(0.5%).
15.3%ofallstudentsarestudyinginthesevenprivateuniversities.Incomparison
withthepreviousacademicyear,theirnumberhasincreasedby12.8%,andincom
parisonwith2000/2001,theincreaseis28.7%,withaconstantincreasebeingob
servedsincethen.
By mode of attendance, students are distributed in the following way: 70.6% are
regular students, 27.3% have opted for extramural education and 2.1% do dis
tancelearning.
In2004/05,thenumberofforeignstudentshasincreasedby331personsincom
parison with the previous academic year. Their number remains comparatively
constant since the academic year 2000/01. The highest share of foreign students
studying in Bulgaria comes from Macedonia (39.6% of all foreign students), fol
lowedbythestudentsfromTurkey(14.9%)andGreece(11.1%).
ThenumberofnewlyenrolledstudentswhoareBulgariancitizensfortheacademic
year2004/05is38,000or736personsmorethanthepreviousyear.Amongthese
students, thegreatest share is of those who havegraduated fromgeneral secon
daryeducation(64.0%),followedbytheonesgraduatedfromsecondarytechnical
schools(33.5%).
In 2004/05, 41,700 students have graduated with the degree of Bachelor or
Master.TherelativeshareofBulgarianstudentswhohavegraduatedishighestin
the fields of Business Administration (29.2%), Social and Behavioural Sciences

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(15.5%), Engineering and Engineering Trades (12.5%) and Teachers Training and
EducationSciences(8.5%).
Duringthe2004/05academicyear,educationforacquiringthedegreeSpecialist
iniscarriedoutin10independentcolleges,ofwhich9areprivate,andin40col
legesinthestructureofuniversities.Accordingtothefieldofeducation,thehigh
estrelativeshareisBusinessAdministration(25.1%),followedbyEngineeringand
EngineeringTrades(21.1%)andHealth(16.7%).In2004,theSpecialistdegreehas
been acquired by 3,800 students. Among graduates, 24.6% are in the field of
Health, followed by the field of Engineering and Engineering Trades (21.2%) and
BusinessAdministration(14.8%).
As of 31/12/2004, 5,079 doctoral students are being trained in Bulgaria. In com
parison with 2003, their number has increased by 5.1%. By mode of attendance,
Ph.D. students are distributed in the following way: 57.1% regular doctoral stu
dents,23.9%inextramuraltrainingand19.0%areindependent.Thehighestpor
tionofdoctoralstudentsisinthefieldofengineeringstudies(20.3%),followedby
the ones of Business Administration (12.4%) and Humanities (11.7%). In 2004, a
doctoraldegreewasacquiredby392personsofwhom199werewomen(50.8%).
Their number is highest in the Humanities (15.6% of the total number of gradu
ates),followedbythosewhoacquiredadoctoraldegreeinthefieldofEngineering
Studies(14.0%),BusinessAdministration(12.8%)andPhysicalSciences(11.7%).
Table1. Netenrolmentrateofthepopulationbylevelofeducation4inthe
periods20002005
ISCED
0
1
2A
3A,3C
4C
5B
5A

2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005

66.8
96.3
82.4
64.7
0.6
2.2
23.0

73.6
98.5
83.1
68.3
0.3
2.4
22.8

74.2
99.8
83.9
74.9
0.3
2.4
23.9

74.6
100.0
84.2
77.1
0.3
2.6
24.1

73.6
99.7
84.2
77.3
0.3
3.1
25.8

Source:NSI(2005):116.

Generally, Bulgarias economy is characterised by fluctuating economic growth

withincreasingGDP,lowinflationrate,decreasingmanufacturingoutput,negative

Groupratesarecalculatedinpercentofenrolmentbylevelsinagegroups36,710,
1114, 1518, 1920, 1921, 1923; 715 years to number of population in the same
agegroups.

TheBulgarianeducationalsystem

171

foreign trade balance, and increasing amounts of foreign investment. The devel
opment of the labour market is characterised by restructuring of branches and
companies,privatisation,liquidationofcompaniesandnewbusinessstartups.The
recentexpansionoftheprivatesectorindicatesapromisingdynamic,butdoesnot
compensatefortheincreaseofunemploymentcausedbyashrinkingpublicsector.
Smallandmediumsizeenterpriseshaveasubstantialemploymentshare41%
butarenotyetsufficientlyefficientinthecurrenteconomicconditions.Whilethe
service, construction, tourism and information technology sectors are in good
shape,chemicalindustry,timberprocessingandtextileproductionareindecline.

Specialfeatures

Bulgaria is characterised by steep declines in birth rates, which means that by

schoolyear2006/07,thereare31%fewerchildreningrades14and23%fewerin
grades58incomparisonwiththepreviousschoolyear.Between1999and2010,
thenumberof5to14yearoldsisexpectedtodecreaseby336,000andthenum
berof15to25yearoldsby273,000(NationalStatisticalInstitute).Theeconomy
willhavetorecruitfromtheadultpopulation,requiringVocationalEducationand
Training institutions to train adults; which is in fact listed as a priority in the Na
tionalDevelopmentPlan(20002006).Thesechangesareofmajorconcerninthe
Ministry for Education and Science (MoES), and underpin its school optimisation
policy.
Another significant characteristic is the low participation rate after grade 8 (only
about67%oftheagecohort),andhighdropoutratesespeciallyamongethnicmi
norities. Overall, dropout is officially estimated at 67% during the compulsory
phaseofeducation;realfiguresarelikelytobehigher,butevenat6%itmeansthat
there are 45,000 children not in school that should be. Officials at the MoES and
thelocalinspectoratesdonotseemtobeveryconcerned,andfrequentlystatethat
dropoutsaremostlyRoma(Kolevetal.,2000).Butthelawoncompulsoryeduca
tionappliestoallchildreninBulgaria,ofanyethnicorigin;moreover,statisticsand
the teams own data indicate that theproblem is not confined to Roma children.
The issue needs to be taken much more seriously, analysing the school environ
ment,thecontentandprocessofinstructionaswellasthesocialcontext,andany
unnecessary barriers should be identified and removed insofar as possible, cer
tainlythroughgrade8.

4.1

CooperationbetweenVETandthelabourmarket

The Unemployment Security and Employment Incentives Act (UEIPA, adopted in

1997),theVocationalEducationandTrainingAct(VETA,adoptedin1999)andthe
Labour Code constitute the main regulative framework for joint activities of VET

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Kostova

andthelabourmarket.Thisframeworkincludesinitialandcontinuingtraining,as
well as retraining for the labour market. The MoES, through its VET system, pro
vides training and retraining for adults in vocational schools and vocational high
schools,whichhavetobefinancedbythetrainees.BesidestheVETschoolsthereis
alargesectorofpublic,privateandNGOprovidedtraining.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (MoLSP), through its National Employ
ment Agency and its local labour offices, addresses training for unemployed per
sonswhohaveafirmjoboffer.Theyalsoprovidetrainingforworkersexpectedto
bemaderedundantduetoindustrialrestructuring.Althoughyouthunemployment
isamajorprobleminBulgaria,therearenospecialtrainingprogrammesforyoung
unemployed.
The MoLSP also provides regional programmes for employment. These include
trainingmeasuresrelatedtoregionalemploymentneeds(e.g.infrastructurebuild
up, promotion of selfemployment, microprojects for professional qualifications,
etc.).Ajointhumanresourcedevelopmentstrategyhasbeendevelopedbetween
the MoES and MoLSP and included in the Bulgarian National Development Plan
(NDP)torespondtotheskillsneedsofBulgariasmarketeconomy.

4.2

Stateandprivateschools,andeducationalattainment

According to their primary source of funding, schools are classified as state or

municipal schools. State schools, which include special needs and vocational
schools,arefundeddirectlyfromtheMoESorotherrelevantministries.Municipal
schoolsarefundedfromthreesources:(1)ablockgranttothemunicipalityfrom
the Ministry of Finance for social services, including education; (2) a share of the
municipal tax revenues; (3) extrabudgetary funds that are raised by the schools
themselves.
Stateschoolsexceptthosethattakepartinadelegatedbudgetpilotprogramme
involving 104 schools do not manage their funds themselves. Services are pro
videdandpaidforbythemunicipality;salariesarepaidcentrallybythemunicipal
ity; and maintenance of buildings is done and paid for by the municipality, too.
Verylittlemoneyisbeingspentonteachingandlearningmaterials.While70%of
thebudgetgoestopaysalariesand12%topayforutilities(mostlyheating),only
1%isspentonschoollibrariesandteachingmaterials.

TheBulgarianeducationalsystem

173

AccordingtotheLawofPublicEducation(ArticleNo.26),instructionisprovidedin
thefollowingtypesofschools:
Table2. Schooltypes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

9.
10.
11.

Juniorgrades14
Middlegrades58
Primarygrades18
Secondarygrades912
Specialisedsecondarygrades812
Comprehensivegrades112
Vocationaltrainingschoolsfromgrade8or9through12
Vocationalschoolsfromgrade6or7offeringathreeyearcourse;
orfromgrade9offeringcoursesofuptofouryears;
oraftersecondaryeducationacquisition,atwoyearcourse
Sportschools
Artschools
Specialschoolsforchildrenwithspecialeducationalneeds(SEN)

OneofthestrengthsofBulgarianeducationisthattheschoolsystemiscapableof
providingschoolingforthevastmajorityofchildrenuptotheageof16.Theschool
network created in socialist times has been maintained, and there is no lack of
schoolsorteachers.However,trueequalityofeducationalopportunityisnotsim
plyamatterofprovision;ithasfourmaincomponentsequalityinaccessto,sur
vival in,treatmentduring,andlifechancesasaresult of,educationandnotall
childrenareequalinallfour.
Nevertheless,Bulgariahasmanagedtomaintainpre1989levelsofpreschoolen
rolment(62%ofthe28agegroup),andstatisticsshowthataccesstogrades14is
virtually universal (gross enrolment rate stands at almost 100%). However, gross
enrolments at middle (grades 58) and secondary levels (912) decrease to 87%
and 68% respectively. This is particularly worrying for grades 58, which are still
partofcompulsoryeducation.
Bulgariahasmadepositiveeffortstoimprovethelivingstandardsandeducational
opportunitiesof minorities (Kostova and Giordano, 2005). Theparliament ratified
theFrameworkConventionforProtectionofNationalMinoritiesinFebruary1999,
and many NGOs and other agencies are active. There is, however, no explicit na
tional strategy for education of minority groups, and conditions, especially for
Roma,arestillfarfromequal.SmallscalediscriminationagainstRomacontinuesin
dailylife.TheliteracyrateamongRomaisconsiderablylowerthaninthegeneral
population (Ringold, 2000). In general, fewer Roma children attend kindergarten,
andmanyRomachildrenstarttheirprimaryschoolinglate,e.g.atage8or9.There
havealsobeenreportsofdecliningschoolattendanceamongallBulgarianchildren,

174

Kostova

butparticularlyamongRoma.Asforsecondaryschool,only6%ofRomacompleted
secondary education compared with 40% of the total population (Ringold, 2000;
Kostova and Giordano, 2005). These 1997 figures probably reflect the crisis of
1997,butoncechildrenhavedroppedoutofcompulsoryeducation,theywillnot
finditeasytogetbackin.

Concludingremarks

TheapplicationoftheISCED97certainlyhasapositiveimpactwithregardtointer
nationalcomparisonsinthefieldofeducation.TheBulgariansideiscontributingto
the development of the classification applying it to the data on education in the
countryinapreciseway.However,theneedtoachieveaclassificationwithahigh
degree of comparability of categories over countries contributes to a significant
levelofgeneralityandthishasasaresultsomenegativeimplications,particularly
the lack of differentiation within upper secondary education (vocational and gen
eralstudies)andwithinuniversityeducation(BAandMA).
An important problem is also the influence of the ISCED97 on sociological re
search.Inordertohavesociologicaldatacomparabletothestatisticalofficedata,
recentempiricalresearchappliestheISCED.Duetoitsgenerality,dataneededfor
analyses on education and other social relations is either not collected or if col
lecteditisrecordedonlyaccordingtotheISCEDcategories.Asthelatterarebroad,
the possibility for a better understanding of the various educational systems and
socialrelationsislost.Itisthereforeveryimportantthatdetailednationalclassifi
cationsarenotentirelyreplacedbytheISCED97.

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BulgarianNationalObservatoryandLabourMarket(BNO)(1998).TheContinuingVocational
TraininginBulgaria,Sofia:BNO.
BulgarianNationalObservatoryandLabourMarket(BNO)(1999).StudyofSchoolDropOuts:
ProblemsandReasons,Sofia:BNO.
Boyadjieva,P.(ed.)(1998).UniversityandSociety:TwoSociologicalCases,Sofia:LIK(inBul
garian).
Brunner, J. J. (1999). Bulgarian Higher Education: Policy Design and System Management,
Washington:TheWorldBank.
Denkov,D./Stanoeva,E./Vidinsky,V.(2001).RomaSchoolsBulgaria2001,Sofia:OpenSoci
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National Statistics Institute (NSI) (2005). Education in the Republic of Bulgaria 2005, Sofia:
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