Education: Next Year's Budget, Highlights and Priorities

In Plovdiv, Education Minister Krasimir Valchev presented to journalists the planned education budget for the coming year, describing it as "the possible budget", achieved through a compromise between financial realities and the needs of the sector. According to him, no minister can be fully satisfied, given the great ambitions and limited resources. "If I tell you that I am satisfied, that means I do not understand the needs of the system," Valchev emphasized. He explained that despite the existence of many priorities, not all good intentions will be able to be realized within the framework of the budget. Valchev added that as a minister he would like to see an increase in salaries for everyone in the sector.

The minister emphasized the funds provided for the increase of remuneration. He stressed that for the next year, more funds are planned for the financing of basic schools and kindergartens, as well as for the teachers in them. The increase in funds for kindergartens is dictated by the need to solve the problem with the inability of teachers to use their leave during the summer. Funds are also provided for a National Career Center, in order to increase resources for career consultants. In addition, Valchev announced a program "Choose to Study in Bulgaria", aimed at financing the best students to stay and study and work in the country.

In the context of the artificial intelligence era, the minister emphasized the critical importance of retaining the most talented young people in the country, especially in fields such as mathematics, computer science, and linguistics. An increase was noted in the number of young people who choose to continue their education in Bulgaria. The funding is aimed at training in Bulgarian universities, and not abroad. According to Valchev, more and more of the best students see Bulgarian higher education, including Sofia University, as an attractive opportunity. This year, an increase in those enrolled was reported compared to those who preferred universities in Germany, France, and the Netherlands, with the main number choosing Sofia University.

Another key priority in the budget is the funding of infrastructure from schools, Minister Valchev pointed out. He mentioned the implementation of a program to reproduce the schools. The reason is that a large number of the leading teachers of students participating in olympiads, as well as the heads of teams, are retiring. At the moment, there is a situation in which there are students remaining in Bulgaria, but there are not enough teachers. In previous years, the trend was the opposite - the teachers were present, but the students chose to study abroad.

Krasimir Valchev expressed satisfaction with the fact that salaries in the sector will increase at a rate exceeding the average for the budget sector. He stressed the need for salaries to keep pace with the growth of the average salary, which has seen a significant increase in recent years. The minister also noted the impact of inflation, which also needs to be compensated.