/ world today news/ “We are on the threshold of the first day of school. This day has been associated with joyful emotions in parents and children for generations. This year, that will no longer be the case. For many Bulgarian children and parents, this year’s September 15th will be a day of sad reckoning for their lives in a country that doesn’t think much of them.”
This was said in a declaration of the PG of the BSP LEFT BULGARIA from the parliamentary rostrum, the chairman of the BSP Mihail Mikov. According to him, this conclusion is not the result of an interpretation of facts and events, but a matter of numbers and objective statistics. “September 15th will be the day when 13,000 children will not go to school in Bulgaria, because they will be abroad or have not registered”, Mikov said and added that several tens of thousands of students will not be able to continue his education for the same reasons. “Today, 20% of preschool and school-age children do not go to school at all, and illiteracy is growing,” he emphasized.
The chairman of the BSP emphasized that an international study shows that school preparation in our country will be the most expensive in Europe – 338 BGN is needed for first-graders, and no less than 488 BGN for upper grades. can a few hundred thousand working poor who you took away the ability to get their income tax refunds afford?” he asked. According to him, the trend is that fewer and fewer Bulgarians have access to the public education system, and a smaller and smaller part of those who have access to it manage to benefit from it. “What is the state doing about all these endlessly worrying issues?” asked Mikov.
According to him, the budget for this year will be remembered first of all for the frozen social payments, including benefits for first-graders and for raising children, and the surplus, if there is any at all, will apparently be used for pre-election campaigning of the rulers. He emphasized that the loan of 16 billion is absorbed and spent and it is not clear where exactly the money goes. “The product that the Bulgarian people give every year is not spent in a way that would ensure the future of this people”, emphasized the leader of the left.
Mihail Mikov called on the rulers to take urgent and adequate measures to ensure accessible education for all Bulgarians. However, according to him, this cannot be done with the redirection of resources from public to private schools. He also stated that the left calls on the Minister of Social Affairs to urgently propose an increase in the amount of social payments, which will stimulate the birth rate and make it possible for Bulgarians to receive quality education. “Bulgaria’s future is more important than public procurement and percentages”, he was categorical. “We call on people’s representatives to support our bills for progressive income taxation, reducing VAT on children’s food and supplies, and returning the opportunity to hundreds of thousands of the working poor to get a 10% income tax refund,” he said. According to him, this is the money with which these people will send their child to school.
Full text of the declaration:
DEAR MADAM PRESIDENT,
DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PEOPLE’S REPRESENTATIVES,
We are on the threshold of the first day of school. This day has been associated with joyful emotions in parents and children for generations. Because public education is part of the pride of the Bulgarian spirit. This year, that will no longer be the case. For many Bulgarian children and parents, this year’s September 15th will be a day of sad reckoning for their lives in a country that doesn’t think much of them.
This conclusion is not the result of an interpretation of facts and events, but a matter of numbers and objective statistics. Because if an event can be interpreted from both the left and the right in order to extract a political dividend, then an impartial figure can hardly be presented as someone’s success, unless, of course, there really is such success behind it. Anyone who thinks otherwise underestimates people and their ability to distinguish demagoguery and political laboratory PR from the substance of politics.
September 15th will be the day when 13,000 children will not go to school in Bulgaria. Because they will be abroad or have not registered. Several tens of thousands more students will not be able to continue their education for the same reasons – because they consider that there is no perspective in our country and will look for their chance outside Bulgaria or because their parents do not have money to prepare them for school.
Today, 20% of preschool and school-age children do not go to school at all. And illiteracy is growing.
We welcome September 15 with a study that indicates that preparing for school in our country will be the most expensive in Europe. 338 BGN is needed for the top earners, and no less than 488 BGN for the upper classes. How will a few hundred thousand working poor, who you took away the opportunity to recover their income tax, afford this?
The trend is clearly defined – fewer and fewer Bulgarians have access to the public education system, and a smaller and smaller part of those who have access to it manage to benefit from it. According to statistics, our nation is shrinking by about 40,000 people a year. And access to education is increasingly expensive for the average person.
What is the state doing about all these endlessly troubling issues?
This year’s budget will be remembered first of all for the frozen social payments, including benefits for first-graders and for raising children. The surplus, if there is any at all, will apparently be used for pre-election campaigning of the rulers, but not for the implementation of purposeful and meaningful policy in education and demography. And the loan of 16 billion is absorbed and spent. And if it is unclear exactly where the money goes, it is mercilessly clear where it does not go – it does not go to stimulate the birth rate, it does not go to ensure peace and sustainability of economic relations so that young people can give birth, it does not go to education and qualification of the young, are not going for policies that will limit poverty and social exclusion of millions. The product that the Bulgarian people annually gives is not spent in a way that would ensure the future of this people.
With this gloomy outlook, we call on the authorities to take urgent and adequate measures to ensure accessible education for all Bulgarians. This cannot be done by diverting resources from public to private schools.
You from the ruling majority supported and enforced the deepening of social stratification between children. The rich citizens of Bulgaria should get new chances, this time with state support. Changes leading to the collapse and privatization of the national education system are adopted. An unlimited number of textbooks for one subject, closing schools and educational institutions, as well as auxiliary and hospital schools. The transfer of basic responsibilities and activities to the municipalities, the introduction of home education, the absurd decentralization leading to the absence of a unified state policy, are only a part of those reforming novelties that destroy decades of achievements of the Bulgarian school, of the Bulgarian public education.
We call on the Minister of Social Affairs to urgently propose an increase in the amount of social payments, which will stimulate the birth rate and make it possible for Bulgarians to receive quality education, even if this means less money for infrastructure. Bulgaria’s future is more important than public procurement and percentages.
We call on MPs to support our progressive income tax bills, reducing VAT on baby food and supplies, and restoring the ability of hundreds of thousands of the working poor to get a 10% income tax refund. This is the money these people will use to send their child to school. We will continue to defend this minimum standard of justice in the name of Bulgaria!
A part of the hall may not believe in our socialist ideology, you may not believe me either. But I am sharing with you mainly statistical information, which, among other things, is public knowledge. I expected that the government is responsible enough to take a stand on all these issues and take concrete measures. They happen with proposals for the laws, with an update of the budget, without us from BSP LEFT BULGARIA having to prompt. But clearly the approaching local elections and the redistribution of access to the public procurement resource is more important.
These, ladies and gentlemen, are the visible results for Bulgaria! We from BSP LEFT Bulgaria are not proud of them, and we want to change them! You can be a part of it too.
September 11, 2015
the city of Sofia
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