/ world today news/ Bulgaria celebrates a liberal jubilee – 400 liquidated schools in 10 years. For each closed school, the state grants generous funding as a reward thanks to the policy started by Daniel Valchev and continued by all his successors in the Ministry of Education and Culture.
This year is already coming to an end, and there is one balance sheet missing from the public space. It is exactly 10 years since the start of the organized “optimization” of the school network in Bulgaria. Until January 1, 2007, the closure of educational institutions took place spontaneously throughout the country, and after that date it was already carried out under the auspices of the government – through a program of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES). Another ministry, the Ministry of Finance, began to generously subsidize every closed classroom. Isn’t it time for a celebratory anniversary?
Before we pour the glasses, let’s recall some facts. The national program of the Ministry of Education and Culture “Optimization of the school network” was introduced by the government of the triple coalition in which the BSP, NDSV and DPS participated. The Minister of Education was Daniel Valchev, who during his first term in power (MP, 2001 – 2005) acted as an internationalist, and in earlier times also as an official in the Ministry of Defense (under Minister Dimitar Ludjev). .
Today, this penkiller, in his life as an activist of the “Bulgaria of the Citizens” party, speaks of conservatism, but back in 2007 he was a liberal. And the “optimization” of the school network was one of the two major liberal “reforms” he carried out. The other was the introduction of delegated budgets, that is, linking school funding to the number of children. Every average Bulgarian knows that there are three direct connections between the two “reforms”. The first – the more dependent a school is on the number of children, the more difficult it is to survive. The second – behind both “reforms” are the principles of the ubiquitous free market. The third – both lead to problems such as the presence of phantom students, turning teachers into brokers to recruit children, bribe their parents, etc. It was then that cases of aggression began to be tolerated.
However, these truths are known today, not then. Valchev actually did what was the cherished dream of two generations of Bulgarian reformers, liberals and some democrats. Their “reform” also had a slogan – “Money follows the student”. If today some people go to bed and get up with the “Finnish system”, which they see as the salvation for all the ills in education, then until 2007 the panacea was “The money follows the student”. Valchev just made those dreams come true.
The unprejudiced reader might think that the “optimization” of schools, since it was the fruit of long-standing national desires, was launched as a result of some strategy. The fact is that children are decreasing, there are regional disparities – and the reader probably imagines that some deep minds have sat down and drawn scenarios for development – economic, demographic, by region… They have considered the educational resources and then proceeded to cut schools. It would be right if this is exactly what happened when implementing a national program, right? Nothing like that – the “optimization of the school network” started only on the basis of the wishes of the local authorities. This is how it is done today. A municipality decides to close a school – it does so. And to make up her mind and not get distracted, the government rewards her with a generous table.
“The money follows the student”, but the truth behind the slogan is different – the money follows the liquidation.
Accessibility of education, regional policy, quality of the educational process, connection with other aspects of social development – all this has never mattered in the process of “optimization”. Her driving force is money.
No joke, no trick. In order to liquidate schools from 2007 until today, the state has allocated between BGN 13 million and BGN 67 million per year. Instead of wasting time with plans, analyses, data collection, drawing hypotheses and scenarios, the governments did one thing only – they offered funds to the municipalities for each closed school.
They bought the liquidation.
The money offered by the state was the only “strategic element” in the national optimization program. “You want to close a school – don’t worry, here’s some money!” – this consisted of the so-called reform.
This exchange process also has a price list. Currently, the state allocates up to BGN 225,000 for the closure of a school with more than 60 students. BGN 135,000 – for institutions with less than 60 children. Money is made available separately for redundancy benefits. So that there are no empty promises, the funds are given in tranches. The process is public, described in dozens of documents. The media, for some strange reason, did not pay enough attention to him over the years.
The farce is even greater. The liquidation is dressed in ceremonial clothes, because the money is officially allocated on a competitive basis – a race to see who will close their school faster and more successfully!
The procedure is similar to applying for European funds – the relevant municipality (or state structure, if the school is state-owned) fills out papers, a committee evaluates them, receives points, writes reports… If they do not meet the criteria for closing a school, they do their best to cover them . The initiative to close a school is most officially called a “project”. In practice, however, there is no competition, because the Ministry of Education and Culture approves everything. It is no coincidence that today’s Minister of Education, Krasimir Valchev, has stated several times that it is not the ministry that closes schools, but the municipalities.
And here are the detailed figures. Since 2007, the state has allocated a gross amount of about BGN 300 million for closing schools. This is evident from the annual documents of the national optimization program. The absorbed amount is smaller, it is not known exactly what it is because there is a lack of public accountability. However, an audit by the Audit Office shows that by 2014, 343 schools had been “optimized”. The data of the Ministry of Education and Culture for the next two years report 21 schools, and in 2017 another 26 were put on the shelf. Almost 400 closed schools during the decade of liberal inclusion in education – a real success.
But do not rush to rejoice! Save the emotions, because there is an occasion for even greater happiness.
In many places in the country, the beautiful school buildings at some point begin to tragically fall into disrepair. Photo: “Barricade”
The aforementioned Audit of the Audit Office indicates that the national program covers about 60% of closed schools. That is, there are also those that close without the generous state aid. Therefore, about 300 more should be added to these 400. If there are two hundred, that’s 60 closed schools per year. Bereket versin! It is a holiday because all this was the desired result of a purposeful state policy. Of desired public “reforms” carried out in front of everyone’s eyes.
Today, Daniel Valchev is in a new role. He published a collection of short stories, he is a writer. At the same time, it is increasingly clear that the yellow bus, for the purchase of which a part of the donated state money went, and which was supposed to “eliminate the distances” in closed schools, is not a solution. He cannot go around the villages for every child, and since they cannot go home, the children stay extra hours at school or hang around him – a source of both aggression and burden for their teachers. At the same time, something else is happening – the current minister Krasimir Valchev is preparing a new formula for calculating the delegated budgets. that is, not to depend only on the number of children. One of the old Valchev’s “reforms” failed, and the other is being reassessed.
Education turned out to be an experienced field, but what if – literature got talent.
With so many emotions in 2007, with so many passions afterwards, and even a national teachers’ strike, it is unfair to remain silent today. Pour champagne, with tears and without.
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