Is there LGBT propaganda in the Bulgarian school?
"I have not noticed that NGOs show interest in Bulgarian education. There might be login attempts and similar activities going on somewhere. When such attempts are made, the sensitivity of the director and the team is much more important than the written law," commented the director of the capital's 119 school, Diyan Stamatov in the studio of "The Day ON AIR".
In his words, after the legal changes, the role of the teachers' collectives is to implement this provision in the form in which it is written - that there is no propaganda on a religious, political, or sexual basis.
"At the same time, the textbooks have not been changed. Here remains the big question mark, what will the teachers of biology and philosophy do. These topics are taught according to the curriculum, without propaganda from external institutions," Stamatov gave an example.
Is education used in the political race?
To Bulgaria ON AIR, the chairman of the Union of Employers in the Public Education System stated that the organization has expressed its position that there is no need for this legislative change, as is the opinion of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES).
"The bad thing is that education law enters the political race. This will be circulated very actively. Just 2 weeks ago, another political force introduced a proposal to sanction teachers who talk about sex education. Financial sanctions and suspension from work for 2 years. This is a dark step back in time, none of the Bulgarian students can be imprisoned in Bulgaria. Bulgarian children travel in Europe and see everything," said Deyan Stamatov.
The blacklist of teachers and principals
He also commented on the lists of principals and teachers who should be sanctioned because they had the courage to express a "different opinion" about the LGBT law.
"Our politicians, for various reasons, think that politics is a long sojourn, and it is a short sojourn in a profession. Such threats should not be directed at teachers and principals. During the last 2-3 years during the administration, this fear grew. This will lead to serious silencing of one of the most intelligent people, which should not be allowed. There are no teachers anyway," warned the director of the capital's 119 school.
According to him, the LGBT topic is not of interest to the students themselves. At the same time, the very word "propaganda" it is not well formulated and, according to Stamatov, it has yet to be given a clear interpretation, because "freedom of interpretation will lead to sanctions in various places".