New Opportunities for Education and Support for Talented Students: Highlights from the Latest Cabinet Meeting

At its meeting today, the Council of Ministers approved a number of measures aimed at improving the educational environment and supporting students. Among the main decisions was the introduction of a new program that provides significant preferences to outstanding students. At the same time, funds were approved to support protected schools and kindergartens, as well as scholarships for talented children.

Free education and scholarships for Olympiad medalists

The new program of the Ministry of Education and Science, entitled "I choose to study in Bulgaria", opens doors for free education and scholarships for students who have achieved high results in international Olympiads. Laureates who have won gold, silver or bronze medals in fields such as mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, linguistics, geography/earth sciences and artificial intelligence will be able to take advantage of this program. Students who choose to continue their education in Bulgarian higher education institutions will not pay tuition fees. In addition, they will receive scholarships in the amount of one minimum wage for the respective year, but not more than 665 euros.

The total budget of the program amounts to 3.6 million euros. Funding will be provided to state higher education institutions, which will be responsible for paying the scholarships. The program will last 60 months, and the funds will be distributed according to the number of enrolled laureates in each academic year.

Protected and central educational institutions

In addition, 278 protected kindergartens and schools for the 2025/2026 academic year were determined. The list includes 168 schools and 79 kindergartens, as well as 31 branches. These institutions are located in municipalities and regions where there is an optimized network of educational institutions, as well as in areas with low population density, border, mountainous and semi-mountainous territories. Their determination takes into account the connection with the road network and infrastructural features.

A protected kindergarten is one, when closed, at least eight children of compulsory pre-school age will have to travel a distance of 14 kilometers or more, or five children will travel 20 kilometers to the nearest kindergarten or school. For a protected school (from I to VII grade), it is determined that when closed, at least ten students will have to travel 20 kilometers or more, and for a protected school (from VIII to X grade) - when closed, at least 15 students will have to travel more than 30 kilometers.

946 central kindergartens and schools have also been determined. Of these, 692 are schools, 210 kindergartens and 44 branches. A central kindergarten is one in which at least four children of compulsory pre-school age from other settlements are educated, where there is no possibility of organizing compulsory pre-school education. A central school is an institution in which at least 10 students from other settlements, where there is no such school, are educated. During the current academic year, 18,789 children and 166,374 students are educated in the central institutions. Free transport is provided for traveling students.

Funding for vocational education and children's talents

The cabinet approved 860 thousand leva for additional funding for municipal schools, in which students in the eighth grade are educated for the acquisition of qualifications in protected specialties from professions and those with an expected shortage of specialists on the labor market. The funds will be provided to 149 schools, covering 3005 eighth graders.

In addition, 631 thousand leva were approved for scholarships for 788 students with outstanding talents. Financial support will be directed to 529 children from municipal schools, 205 talented children from state educational institutions and 27 students from private schools. The funds are provided under the Program of measures for the protection of children with outstanding talents in 2025. Scholarships granted in 2024 and 2025 will be paid with them.

A total of 446 thousand leva will be transferred to 57 municipalities for financial incentives for students from municipal schools. Separately, 21 thousand leva are provided to Sofia Municipality and the municipalities of Varna, Dobrich and Veliko Tarnovo for scholarships for students from private schools in these cities. According to the budget of the Ministry of Education and Science, nearly 164 thousand leva are approved for scholarships for students from state schools.

Fees for doctoral students and foreign students

The government also adopted new amounts of fees for doctoral students in specialties from two professional fields at Ruse University. Full-time doctoral students in specialties from the fields of crop production and public health will pay 1100 leva. In part-time form, the fee for crop production remains unchanged, while for public health it will be 900 leva. The fee for foreign students in the specialty of nursing at the Medical University - Pleven is also updated. It will reach 3,500 euros, which is in accordance with the legal provisions requiring the fee not to be lower than that paid by Bulgarian students in a paid form.

With these measures, the government shows a commitment to education and the development of talented students. Whether these efforts will lead to the expected results remains to be seen?