“The Decline of Literacy and Population in Bulgaria’s Rhodopi Region”

4186 are the illiterate residents of Rodop. Their number has decreased by 46 percent over a period of 10 years, and in 2011 they were 8,987 people, writes “Rhodopi voice”, referring to the processed data from the census in September 2021.

Without learning to read and write, there were 7,299 people over the age of 9 in the Kardzhali region, the results show in 2011, while two five years later their number was 3,435.

The Smolyan region stands much better on the map in terms of literacy. There were 1,688 people without basic educational skills in 2011, while ten years later they were only 751.

However, the quality of education and the various national programs are hardly the basis of the improved data. According to experts, this is mainly due to… migration both within the country and abroad.

Over 31,000 people have fused the two regions over this time period. The number of people over 9 years of age in Kardzhalisko has decreased by 8,695 people, while in Smolyansko the figure is impressive – by 22,635 less.

“In other words, it’s not that we’ve been able to educate so many people, it’s just that they’ve left the country. The whole region is Gurbetchii. Graduates and specialists, as well as people with a very modest educational level, go abroad. A large percentage of young people who complete their secondary education choose to study abroad, and then… they just don’t come back,” experts commented to our team.

In the two censuses under consideration, the analysis shows that the largest number of illiterate persons were in the two regional centers.

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