Balgarianovinite.com All Bulgarian schools will have STEM centres built by the summer, Outgoing Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev told journalists on Friday. Valchev opened new STEM classrooms at Primary School Hristo Smirnenski.
Valchev said that analyses showed children were more motivated to learn mathematics and science in these classrooms. He added that he had visited many schools and that this one had once had few pupils and an unappealing environment, but that he now saw improvements in both enrolment and facilities.
Valchev added that the most serious issue in educational infrastructure was the lack of gymnasiums. “A quarter of schools, 600 in total, had no gymnasiums. In recent years, some have been built, but nearly 400 schools still have none. This remains a challenge,” he said. He added that outdoor sports facilities were just as important, as children spend hours there and they are used outside class time as well.
He added that another objective was to increase the number of pupils receiving vocational training, which had been achieved over the past eight years. Nearly 60% of upper-secondary students were enrolled in vocational programmes.
“I hope that everything we did over the past year and the discussion we initiated will serve as a foundation, because the education system’s structure needs to change, along with curricula and assessment,” Valchev said. Policies on inclusive education also needed to continue.
He said the education system employed about 92,000 teaching professionals across 4,000 institutions, while acknowledging the existence of local issues.
Bulgaria has been rolling out STEM learning environments in schools with EU support under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Education and Science Minister Krasimir Valchev has said the initiative grew out of work launched in 2019, when the first programme financed 250 STEM centres, and was later scaled up so that STEM facilities would be built in the remaining 2,000-plus schools. By April 2025, more than 2,200 STEM centres had been completed nationwide, including newly opened facilities such as the STEM centre at the Professional Natural and Mathematical High School in Vratsa, equipped for applied programming and supported by an investment of nearly BGN 350,000.
In May 2025, construction also began on a national STEM centre in Sofia, intended to support teaching and help raise students’ results in mathematics and the natural sciences. By the start of the 2025/2026 school year, the ministry said schools across the country were implementing projects to create a modern STEM environment, combining STEM centres and natural science classrooms into integrated complexes. Outgoing Education Minister Valchev: All Schools Get STEM Centres by Summer 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-02-06 17:43:15 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law