Gymnasiums in schools should remain open after school hours and be accessible to children from sports clubs - this is the proposal discussed by Dimitar Berbatov, advisor to the caretaker Prime Minister on youth and sports issues, and the caretaker Minister of Education and Science Prof. Sergey Ignatov.

The initiative aims to promote the development of mass sports among children and students. Berbatov emphasized that investment in sports for children is an investment in their health. The integration of school gyms is proposed as a solution to the problem of the lack of training places.

Nearly 2000 schools in the country have gymnasiums, which often remain unused after school hours. Access for sports clubs to these facilities can be arranged through contracts between the school and the municipality or a licensed sports federation.

The Ministry of Education and Science is continuing the program “Construction and Major Repair of Sports Fields and Gymnasiums” (2024-2027), under which projects for the construction and repair of school gyms and outdoor playgrounds have been approved.

At the beginning of the week, the caretaker government launched a large-scale initiative for dialogue with the sports community through a strategic survey to sports federations.