The chairman of the "Education" Trade Union at the "Podkrepa" Trade Union, Yulian Petrov, came out with a sharp position on the upcoming changes in the education system. In a post on social networks, he outlined several key problems that require urgent attention.
According to Petrov, the intensive discussion of teacher salaries in the context of Budget 2025 does not contribute to increasing the authority of the teaching profession. "Teachers are ready for protests if the budget does not contain the promised 499 million," he said, referring to the starting salary of 1,500 leva for a young teacher.
Petrov is particularly critical of the idea of introducing a mandatory state matriculation exam in mathematics. He warns that the thoughtless introduction of such an exam would lead to more poor grades and a drastic drop in results. The chairman of the union points out that even students with a mathematical profile rarely choose the matriculation exam in mathematics due to the difficult-to-understand material.
Petrov raises the question of why the Ministry of Education and Science only comments on the elimination of the national external assessment in grade 10, ignoring the union's proposal to eliminate the NVE in grade 4 as well. He insists on an urgent debate on the initial stage of education and measures to support students with educational deficits.
In his position, Petrov advocates the introduction of the subjects "Religion and Values" and "Civic Studies". "The value system of Bulgarian students is very vulnerable and difficult to form in school," he points out, recalling that 30 years ago teachers were forbidden to educate.