Quality Education - the Strongest Instrument for the Development of a Value-Added Economy

Half of Bulgarian pupils are functionally illiterate — they cannot understand the meaning of a text they have read, make connections between events, read a graph, or recognise fake news. The results of the prestigious international PISA test of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), published on 5 December, once again showed that Bulgarian education is falling behind and is making a huge proportion of people non-competitive in today's world.

As employers, we witness on a daily basis the broken link between education and the real needs of business. Bulgarian schools do not prepare young people for life and its social and economic challenges.

This has direct negative effects on business and the Bulgarian economy. Serious problems with finding qualified personnel are experienced by 70% of employers. Business is forced to build its own academies and educational institutions, which represents a huge additional investment.

The demographic crisis and the brain drain of talents and young people abroad is the greatest challenge facing Bulgaria. The shortage of people today is a topic for absolutely every industry in our country. Bulgarian business is placed in a far more disadvantageous position than its competitors around the world.

For this reason, 25 organisations representing business are uniting in support of a genuine reform of Bulgarian school education and declare our readiness to cooperate with all political parties, state and local institutions. Let us transform Bulgarian schools into a place that prepares pupils for a successful personal and professional life in the 21st century.

On the basis of detailed studies of the experience of countries with high results in international assessments and research, as well as expert discussions on the state of the Bulgarian education system, we insist on a comprehensive and ambitious reform addressing the following priorities, which are developed in greater detail below in the text:

• Raising the quality of initial training and continuing professional development of teachers and headteachers
• Developing curricula with a new philosophy oriented towards developing competencies, rather than rote memorisation of subject knowledge
• Shifting internal and external assessments towards measuring developed competencies rather than learned knowledge
• Effective application of a quality standard in education and a value-added system for schools
• Guaranteeing greater autonomy, resources and support for schools, while also requiring them to take responsibility for pupil outcomes
• Rigorous and professional selection of teachers and headteachers based on the competencies required for the profession
• Objective and fair assessment of the work of teachers and headteachers based on results, not administrative requirements

Quality preparation, rigorous selection and assessment of the work of teachers and headteachers

Teachers and quality teaching are the most important factor in the development of pupils' skills, while effective management of school teams and resources depends on headteachers. At present, initial training as well as the continuing professional development of school staff are to a large extent not aligned with the requirements of the modern world. There is a need for bold change in the preparation of teachers and headteachers, assessment of the quality of continuing professional development, and the provision of effective additional training. The selection of candidates for teachers and headteachers, as well as the subsequent regular assessment of their work and achievements, must become more rigorous and be grounded in the skills required for the profession and real results, rather than administrative requirements.

In addition to headteachers and teachers, important human resources in education include psychologists, assistant teachers, resource teachers, speech therapists, mediators, experts in the regional education authorities who support teachers, and all other specialists who work to ensure pupils feel well at school and realise their potential. These specialists are often neglected both in terms of pay and other working conditions, which leaves teachers without support in their work with children and young people.

Modern curricula and pupil assessments with a new philosophy aimed at developing 21st century skills

The curriculum on which Bulgarian pupils are educated does not develop in them the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for life and achievement in the 21st century. There is a need for a comprehensive rethinking and redefinition of the goals of the educational process, on the basis of which entirely new curricula and syllabi should be drawn up. Modern curricula take into account all factors that influence pupil learning, consider the demands of the future world, as well as the interests and needs of different children and young people. New curricula also bring with them a new way of assessing the knowledge and skills of pupils. Both in-year assessment and national examinations must no longer measure primarily reproduced information, learned theories and ready-made answers, but must stimulate the thinking and creativity of pupils.

Effective use of resources and management of the system with a focus on results and the added value of schools

Although Bulgaria still allocates a low percentage of GDP to the sector, there is no evidence that the money invested yields a return. State and local institutions must have well-planned performance indicators for their policies, and the education system and society must receive a clear picture of the effect of the funds invested.

It is crucial that the assessment of the work of both the entire education system and of individual teachers and headteachers be carried out on the basis of objective and transparent criteria that account for results, not documents prepared or other administrative activities. An important aspect is the effective introduction of a quality standard in education, as well as the value-added system, so that there is transparent information on the progress of every school.

We are aware that education reform is a long-term commitment that involves unpopular measures. If they are not undertaken, however, we condemn dozens more generations of Bulgarian children and young people to being denied the opportunity for a happy life and successful professional achievement.

As business organisations, we commit to supporting the efforts of national and local institutions towards quality education for all children in Bulgaria. In these turbulent political times, we call for a cross-party consensus on reforms related to improving education in our country. We believe that the conversation today must not be limited to identifying the problem, but that we must speak about the solutions that can make Bulgaria one of the countries with the best education in the world in the coming decades.

American-Bulgarian Business Association — ABBA

American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria — AmCham

Association for Innovation, Business Services and Technologies — AIBEST

Branch Chamber of the Wood Processing and Furniture Industry

Bulgarian-Romanian Trade and Industry Chamber

Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association — BVCA

Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies — BAIT

Bulgarian Association of Communication Agencies — BACA

Bulgarian Association for Circular Textiles — BACT

Bulgarian Public Relations Association — BAPRA

Bulgarian Association of Software Companies — BASKOM

Bulgarian Association for People Management — BAPM

Bulgarian Cluster for Digital Solutions and Innovations in Healthcare — DHI Cluster

Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Association — BESCO

Bulgarian Employer Association for Innovative Technologies — BEAIT

Bulgarian Industrial Association — BIA

Bulgarian Fintech Association

Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum

German-Bulgarian Industrial and Trade Chamber — AHK

ICT Cluster

Professional Association for Robotics, Automation and Innovation — PARAi

Association for Modern Trade

Family Business Association — FBN

Endeavor Bulgaria

IAB Bulgaria