School scholarships have not been increased since 2017 and are due to rise by 20% in 2027, with priority being given to raising the minimum amount, Education and Science Minister Prof. Georgi Valchev said on Friday in response to a parliamentary question from Angel Yanchev of Vazrazhdane. It concerned an increase in funding for school scholarships and their minimum amount in 2027.
“On 14 October 2026, Prime Minister Rumen Radev announced that the 2027 state budget would provide for an increase in school scholarships, and this was reported by a number of media outlets, including the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), Nova TV and others,” Angel Yanchev said.
Under Article 11, paragraph 1 of Council of Ministers Decree No. 328 of 21 December 2017, the minimum monthly school scholarship is EUR 10.74, Yanchev said. He asked by how much, and by what percentage compared with 2026, funding for school scholarships was expected to increase in 2027, and what the new minimum monthly scholarship would be.
Council of Ministers Decree No. 328 does indeed date from 2017, and there has been absolutely no increase in school scholarships since then. Scholarships for pupils are funded through earmarked allocations from the state budget, which are determined annually by the State Budget Act for the relevant year, Minister Georgi Valchev said.
He explained that additional scholarship funding could be provided from the budget of the authority financing the state or municipal school, or the state or municipal centre for special educational support, as well as from the school’s own budget. As part of policies aimed at promoting equal access to education and supporting personal development, pupils receive monthly scholarships for academic achievement and on social grounds. In addition to monthly scholarships, educational institutions may also award one-off scholarships to help pupils overcome circumstances related to their social status or access to education, as well as to recognize outstanding achievements, Minister Valchev said.
Under the 2017 decree, monthly scholarships range from EUR 10.74 to EUR 30.68. Within these limits, the monthly amounts for the different types of scholarships are determined at school level by a committee appointed by the head of the educational institution. The Ministry of Education and Science has repeatedly raised the issue of securing additional funding to increase pupils’ scholarships during budget procedures over the past several years, Minister Georgi Valchev said.
The draft 2027 State Budget Act once again addressed the issue, resulting in an additional EUR 5 million being earmarked for school scholarships. This additional funding will make it possible to increase scholarship amounts by an average weighted rate of 20%. “It was important for us to signal that this is an issue that has been neglected by many governments and that it is high time we extended a helping hand to young people. I hope that in the coming years we will see a similar rate of increase, leading to a much more substantial overall rise in scholarships,” Minister Georgi Valchev said.
He added that, in addition to the funding for increasing monthly school scholarships, the draft State Budget Act provides for a further EUR 5 million in scholarships for pupils enrolled in vocational and technical education programmes. “This is one of the priorities we need to strengthen in the coming years, given the growing demand in the labour market for specialists of this kind,” the Education Minister said.

School Scholarships to Rise by 20% in 2027 after No Increase since 2017 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-11-06 04:01:08

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