Education conversation Diary
Instead of how every child receives quality education and Bulgaria to come out of the last places in Europe in the skills of the 21st century, we are talking about compulsory religion, evaluations of discipline and even more private lessons, writes Lyuba Yordanova in an analysis of Dnevnik.
Over the last few weeks, the Ministry of Education and Science and Teachers Trade Unions have successfully replaced the real conversation about where Bulgarian education should go. From how to train and support the teachers better to the archaic and non-working discipline assessments. The need for contemporary curricula to prepare students for the 21st century has been displaced by obligatory hours of religion for first -graders. The recommendation of Bulgarian and international experts to stop with early childhood exams and make every child receive a good education was muted by expansion of admission in grade 4, ie. From stimulating even more private lessons and huge tension for 10-year-old children.
What happened
The beginning of a government’s term is a chance to prepare real reforms that have the potential to improve a given sector, even if they do not like the majority. The Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev did not use this chance, but went at full speed to populist ideas that could help to increase his party’s electorate, but help Bulgarian students and teachers.
Conducts for discipline and easier imposition of sanctions on students and parents are the dream of many teachers. The reason is that in many cases, pedagogical specialists feel powerless in classrooms and do not know how to approach them to make their lessons safely.
| However, the real reason is different – neither universities nor most of their additional training teach them what to do in such situations. |
Higher school programs are largely from the last century, emphasize theory and learning of the object itself that the future teacher will teach, and do not offer enough practical exercises and strategies for working with students. The ongoing qualification of the already existing teachers is in many cases limited to proforma lecture training with more time for the hotel’s spa.
Religion as a compulsory subject at school: the problem is who, what and how will he teach
After the ministry was silent, Takeva made him a gift – support for the idea of introducing compulsory religion training in Bulgarian schools, and since grade 1. The proposal not only risks concreting the last places of Bulgarian students in Europe, but also to affect the physical and mental health of children.
| On unofficial information, time for religion will be found at the expense of physical education and sports and music classes. |
The same Bulgarian students who largely suffer from obesity and spinal distortions, instead of using the only 40 minutes to move, will again lure over their ranks, this time over the Bible or Qur’an. They will also be deprived of their natural childhood curiosity about music to be scared with the devil.
According to Yanka Takeva, nearly 70% of teachers support the subject « virtues and religions »
Attempting the scandalous idea of being blurred with an option for parents to choose their children to study « virtues » instead of religion, it is also not successful. The same ministry, which is expected to approve the Virtue Curriculum, is responsible for the fact that over half of the Bulgarian 15-year-olds are functionally illiterate. This means that even half of the Bulgarian population (because after the age of 15, one cannot catch up with these huge gaps) cannot understand the meaning of what they read cannot read the graphics, they cannot calculate a percentage of a given amount.
| And the people guilty of the lack of basic skills in Bulgarian students and Bulgarian citizens are now hired to teach the children of good and evil. |
Expansion of admission in grade 4 also does not rest on any data and evidence of necessity. On the contrary, for years, organizations such as the European Commission, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have emphasized the benefits of later profiling students and the withdrawal of primary education to grade 9 inclusive. Most countries in the world where students do well do just that – they guarantee that every student receives a quality basic education, no matter where he / she is studying and what his parents are.
Dr. Svetla Petrova, Educational Expert: Early profiling after 7th grade enhances educational inequalities
In Bulgaria, the quality of education of a child depends on whether it goes to private lessons.
| And the last idea of the MES of an opportunity to even more in the school in grade 4. It will only stimulate even more private lessons and increase the gap between students from wealthy and poor families. |
The impact of early application on the mental health of children is also not neglected. The tension around the exams after 7th grade leads to increasing cases such as panic attacks, anxiety and depression among students. If the intake is further removed, private lessons, tension and the risk of poor health will start from second grade, ie. In 8-year-old children.
State stops free training for some of the future educators
What could be
- improving the quality of basic training and the continuing qualification of teachers and principals;
- developing curricula with a new philosophy, oriented to the development of competences, not a discharge of subject knowledge;
- change of internal and external evaluations to measure developed competences, not learned knowledge;
- Effective implementation of a standard for quality in education and a system of added value of schools;
- Guaranteeing more autonomy, resources and support for schools, but also taking responsibility from them for students’ results;
- demanding and professional selection of teachers and principals on the basis of the competencies necessary for the profession;
- Objective and fair assessment of the work of teachers and principals on the basis of results, not administrative requirements.
The conversation about education in the last three months could have been on these topics. The ministry could start looking for ways to implement these reforms.
He would also find allies in the face of teachers and principals who have recognized the need for change and seek the best for students, as well as in the face of business and civil sector. But he preferred not to anger the status quo and bring Bulgarian education back to the past.
