According to research by the National Statistical Institute, 93.4% of all 7-10 year-olds in Bulgaria attended school during the academic year 2009-10. Unfortunately, the number falls to 82.4% for children aged 11-14 and currently only 78.6% of all youngsters actually graduate from high school – meaning that over 22% do not.
The figures show that Bulgaria faces a real challenge in reaching the EU's goal of reducing the share of early school leavers to less than 10% by the year 2020.
As far as higher education is concerned, Bulgaria is well-placed to attain the target of increasing the proportion of young people with a degree or diploma to at least 40% by 2020.
In the 2009-10 academic year, 33.1% of 19-23 year-olds in the country attended university or specialised higher education schools. Another 3.9% were college students and 0.8% studied in education institutions providing vocational training for high school graduates.
National targets being readied
Bulgaria is currently preparing national goals as a means of achieving the educational targets of the Europe 2020 strategy, Maria Petkova, press officer at the Bulgarian Ministry of Education, Youth and Science, told Dnevnik.
Sofia is set to present the national goals and how exactly the country plans to implement them in Brussels in the autumn.
To achieve the two targets, Bulgaria needs to invest more in its education sector. According to the Europe 2020 strategy, each country should invest 3% of its GDP in research and development (R&D).
In May, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov said this goal could be achieved only partially and the country would probably be able to spend just 2% of its GDP. However, this would also depend on reform in the R&D sector and the development of the Bulgarian economy, warned Mladenov.
Education in Bulgaria is free as far as schools are concerned. Almost every university is subsidised by the government and education fees are therefore much cheaper than in the few private universities.
In late July, the Bulgarian parliament decided to let state universities offer so-called 'paid higher education'. Parliament also ruled that only 5% of students can be involved in these programmes, which will not be subsidised by the government.
According to Bulgarian Education Minister Sergey Ignatov, the fees will not be higher than 1,600 Bulgarian leva – approximately €800.
The education minister has stated that the country's university system is outdated and needs a "sweeping" overhaul. The government will launch a rating system in October which will serve as the basis for distributing funds, said Ignatov, quoted by Reuters.
