387 points in reading. Bulgaria's lowest score since we participated in PISA. In mathematics - also down. In all three areas we are below the OECD average.
This is written in the official position of the presidential candidate Andrey Gyurov on the occasion of the PISA 2025 results presented today. We are publishing the position without editorial intervention:
"I know what's coming. A few days of outrage, accusations, incantations for “reform“. Then we continue as before.
That's why I won't start with the reform. I'll start with a question: what do we want Bulgarian children to be able to do in 15 years? To read and understand? To think critically? To distinguish information from disinformation? To use technology without technology thinking for them?
The answer to this question cannot be written in one office. We need teachers, parents, civil society organizations, experts, university professors. And the students themselves - because if a child does not see the point in school, we will not solve the problem with more hours and more tests.
Every general sentence must have a continuation. “The teacher at the center“ - how we remove bureaucracy to give them back their time. “Money for quality“ - how we ensure that poorer regions will not be punished for their starting conditions. “Digitalization“ - not how many devices we have bought, but what is changing in the classroom.
And all this costs money. In Budget 2026, education spending increases nominally, but its share falls from 4.8% to 4.5% of GDP. And the plan is to reach 3.8% by 2028. This is not a one-time decision – it is a direction.
As president, I will insist that this direction be reversed. And I will start the conversation that we have been postponing for years".