Julian Petrov, President of the Education Union at the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour, Wednesday said the voice of Bulgarian teachers must be at the centre of future education policies. He was speaking at the presentation of the results of a national survey conducted by the union on Education 2026: The Spectrum of Reform.
Petrov recalled that the Ministry of Education and Science had launched a series of debates on education reform. “Changes in the education system are bound to fail if they are made without teachers – the people who bear responsibility for Bulgarian schools every day,” the union said.
Respondents identified the changes they expect most, with genuine parental responsibility topping the list, including financial and administrative sanctions for serious violations of school rules by pupils, the union said.
The second priority identified by teachers is the need to reduce the content, factual material and volume of the curriculum. They also said there should be an option to expel pupils for multiple and systematic violations, as well as an effective policy and functioning mechanisms to protect teachers from job burnout.
A complete ban on the use of phones at school is the next most important priority, while assessment of students’ discipline also features prominently among the expected changes.
One of the most worrying signals is that 95.8% of respondents believe schools are losing their historical mission and gradually turning into a “social services factory”. Only 3.6% are convinced that the modern school has retained its mission, the statement said.
According to the survey, 87.5% of teachers believe trust in teachers is very low, while only 4.7% rate it as excellent. More than 90% of participants believe that assessing teachers solely on the basis of documents is one of the biggest mistakes. Only 7.6% consider this approach good.
A total of 95.3% of respondents said teachers perform administrative, social, security and health-related duties that fall outside the teaching profession. Despite claims by several Education Ministry teams, only 1.8% of teachers report a real reduction in administrative burden, while more than 95% see no significant reduction in paperwork, the union said. It added that the strongest consensus, at 98%, was for giving teachers more powers over discipline and placing greater responsibility on parents.
The teaching community is unequivocal on education funding, with 97% opposing the government’s reduction in the share of GDP allocated to education from 4.5% to 4% for 2027, the statement said.
Also, 63.6% said they were not prepared to wait until 2030 to maintain teachers’ gross average salary at 125% of the national average, while 25% were tolerant of the failure to honour the commitment made to Bulgarian teachers.
A large majority of teachers said changes in education come unexpectedly, without a clear strategic objective and without sufficient planning. Just 4.3% believe that the system is fulfilling its strategic mission.
The exclusion of teachers and school principals from committees selecting heads of educational institutions also meets widespread disapproval. Only 2.9% support the status quo.
Regarding the debate over having one textbook for some or all subjects, a total of 63.1% do not see the future of education in limiting pupils to one compulsory textbook or support an even more flexible model without compulsory textbooks. A total of 61.4% support returning Grade 8 to the completion of primary education, while 24.3% oppose this. Some 51.3% of teachers believe that the Virtues and Religions subject will fulfil its mission of promoting tolerance, humility and humanity in Bulgarian schools, while 35.2% doubt this. A total of 75.1% believe that a ban on training outside educational institutions, provided for in the State Budget Act, will harm the professional development process and the retention of young teachers. Only 19% believe it will have no impact.
The strongest overall conclusion of the national survey is that education professionals expect reform not through more administrative tasks, formal mechanisms and token policies, but through greater trust and real powers for teachers, effective discipline, parental responsibility, protection of the teaching profession and a clear government prioritization of education. Successful education reform cannot be carried out instead of teachers; it can only be carried out together with them, Julian Petrov said.
Union Survey Asks Teachers about Changes Needed in Education System 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-09-23 11:28:17
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