The Sofia Municipality sent an official letter to the National Assembly of Bulgaria requesting an urgent meeting with the members of the National Assembly from the Committee on Education and Science and the Committee on Health. The reason is the deepening crisis with the shortage of nurses in nurseries and nursery groups, which directly puts access to care for the youngest children in the capital at risk, wrote dariknews.bg.
The data presented in the letter outline a serious structural problem:
Another 230 nurses are needed for the normal functioning of the system; Of the total of 550 working nurses, half are over 62 years old, and 104 are over 70 years old; When medical specialists over 70 leave, there is a real danger of closing 124 nursery groups; The average age of nurses is 61 years old, with only 69 under 50 years old; In 2025, 34 nursery groups were transformed into kindergartens due to a lack of staff; Three kindergartens currently do not have a single nurse.Despite the accelerated construction of new nurseries and the expansion of the existing infrastructure, the staff shortage is blocking the opening of new places. An example of this is a newly opened nursery with a capacity of six groups operating with an admission for only two due to a lack of medical specialists.
The problem is structural and cannot be solved with temporary administrative measures. At the local level, the possibilities for compensating for the shortage through organizational changes have been exhausted.
European practice, which also coincides with the expectations of parents, indicates that medical care in nurseries should be supportive, focused on prevention and safety, while the leading role should be played by the educational and developmental function of the child - socio-emotional development, pre-verbal communication, speech development, early literacy, partnership and parental counseling. The tendency for more and more mothers to return to work after the first year of motherhood further increases the need for nurseries and places for the youngest children, which makes the immediate solution to the problem even more urgent.
In its letter, the Sofia Municipality also indicates a specific solution that requires a legislative initiative by the parliament - amending the Health Act (Art. 118 and Art. 119) and transferring the regulation of nurseries to the Preschool and School Education Act. It is proposed that crèches be transferred from the portfolio of the Minister of Health to the portfolio of the Minister of Education and Science, thereby creating a sustainable regulatory framework consistent with European practices and the country's real human resources potential.
The proposal aims to simultaneously guarantee quality care for children and more efficient use of limited medical resources at the national level.
In view of the growing need for crèche places and the real risk of closing existing groups, the letter requests urgent discussion of legislative changes within the mandate of the 51st National Assembly.