Claims of political vendettas and purges within the Regional Departments of Education (RDE) are untrue. As of now, seven out of a total of 28 heads of regional departments in the country have been replaced, announced Minister of Education and Science Prof. Georgi Valchev.
The Minister made the comment during a meeting of the Committee on Education and Science. He was responding to a topical question asked by Member of Parliament Tatyana Sultanova-Siveva from the "We Continue the Change" parliamentary group.
"Two of these RDE heads retired of their own volition, two were already subject to ongoing disciplinary investigations, and three were replaced by mutual agreement between them and the Ministry of Education and Science (MES)," Prof. Valchev clarified. He emphasized that the topic is being overblown and described the criticism regarding the politicization of the system as unfair.
According to the Minister of Education, the ministry is striving to strengthen the capacity of the experts in the Regional Departments of Education. He added that there are objective difficulties related to the status and salary levels of those working in these structures.