You want to rewrite history to justify your bankruptcy –

/ world today news/ Yanaki Stoilov: We have fundamental differences with the authorities regarding school education. BSP is against the deepening of social inequality

“The law on school and pre-school education, which the rulers passed, will deepen social inequality and lead to a decline in the quality of public education.” This was stated to the media in the parliament by the deputy chairman of the National Assembly of the BSP Yanaki Stoilov. According to him, this is due to the admission of funding to private schools, and this approach will soon be transferred to higher education with even greater insistence. As another reason, Stoilov pointed to the abolition of grades in the initial course. Secondly, he pointed out that this law reduces care for disadvantaged children – auxiliary schools and other specialized schools are closed and transformed into centers for personal support. “Thirdly, this law will not contribute to reducing the number of students who drop out – the completion of basic education will be after the 7th grade, not after the 8th grade. Home education is also allowed without special reasons for this,” he explained.

Yanaki Stoilov pointed out that the law underestimates the role of the school for social integration and social care for children – free transport is provided only for children up to the age of 16, the proposal for “Second Chance” schools for dropped out children was rejected; funds are not provided for school clothing and other activities of a social nature. As another reason for BSP’s disagreement with the law, Stoilov pointed to the lack of important mechanisms for implementing a unified state policy in education – the practice of an unlimited number of textbooks is retained, and the vocational high schools financed by the Ministry of Agriculture become municipal. “The method of evaluating principals, the creation of two inspectorates and other similar regulations do not confirm the declarations of a unified state policy in education. These are sufficient reasons why we expressed a critical attitude and did not support many of the important provisions in this law. Instead of making reforms to cure the problems, they deepen the policy that led to these problems”, concluded Janaki Stoilov.

Mariana Boyadzhieva: For the first time, changes are being made in education with such disagreement, objection and protests

“There is no other such example in recent years, in which Bulgarian education is considered and there are so many disagreements, objections, including protests, and it was expected that there would be a public consensus”. This was stated to the media by the People’s Representative from the PG of BSP LEFT BULGARIA Mariana Boyadzhieva. She emphasized that many of the decisions on the texts of the bill were taken with no more than 70 to 90 votes. “This is extremely alarming, because it determines not only the future of education, but also the future of our children,” said Boyadzhieva categorically. According to her, the autonomy given to Bulgarian schools by this law will lead to different curricula and plans and will put students at a disadvantage in terms of the opportunities of the big city and smaller settlements. She emphasized that another controversial moment during the discussions was the creation of public councils for Bulgarian schools – a new body that will have serious powers, but without competence requirements and there are no sufficiently clearly developed control criteria. “Bulgarian boards of trustees, which have traditions dating back to the Renaissance, have shown that they work for the Bulgarian school, they are only burdened with commitments, but with insufficient rights”, concluded Mariana Boyadzhieva.

Stoyan Mirchev: The education system is in danger and may collapse

“The Bulgarian education system is in danger and after 5 to 8 years it may collapse”. This was stated from the parliamentary rostrum by the People’s Representative from the PG of BSP LEFT BULGARIA Stoyan Mirchev. According to him, the answer to the question of why this happened, which we will ask ourselves in 5 years, lies precisely in the changes made to this law. “There will be no grading until fourth grade. This will come as a complete shock to the 5th graders when they get their first grades. At the moment, the percentage of students who drop out the most is between the 5th and 7th grades”, explained Mirchev. According to him, however, the statistics will not detect the percentages of these students dropping out, due to home schooling and the fact that everyone will pretend to be homeschooled. Mirchev stated that in 5 years this will lead to the closure of schools in small towns. For this, according to him, the diversion of funds to private schools will help. Mirchev emphasized that the impact will not only be quantitative, but also qualitative – there is no uniform state policy in the law and autonomy is given. “This means that even the few children who will graduate from some school, after a few years it will not be clear what education they will receive and whether they received any at all,” explained Stoyan Mirchev.

Stoilov to the rulers: You want to rewrite history to justify your bankruptcy

“The rulers want to rewrite history, to deal only with a past period, to justify their own political and managerial bankruptcy.” This was stated from the parliamentary rostrum by the Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly of the BSP Yanaki Stoilov during the debates on the Law on Preschool and School Education. He suggested that if teaching about the rule of law and fundamental rights were to be included, it should be recorded “including the achievements and encroachments on fundamental rights of citizens in the 20th century”. “If we are going to talk about this period, it must be said that there were restrictions on the opportunities for association and political expression, but at the same time, during this period, Bulgaria achieved significant economic progress, every single person had a job, everyone had the opportunity to to study for free, to be treated for free, to rest, to have a secure old age. Let’s talk about these issues, why are you afraid”, said Stoilov. He stressed that truth seekers should accept this revision. “We are not afraid and we do not deny anything from history”, the vice-chairman of the left was categorical.

Stoilov asked why, when studying the medieval history of Bulgaria, it is said that there were glorious pages in its history, there are also dark periods, and when talking about the 20th century, it should be said that Bulgaria was almost a concentration camp. “What do you achieve by doing this? What self-esteem do you give to these people living in the 21st century?” he asked. Stoilov called on the rulers not to act as political primitives.

Yanaki Stoilov stated that after the rulers underestimated the educational function of the Bulgarian school, now they want to instill certain clichés and wash the minds of the young generation, similar to times gone by. “You are retarded and reproduce with the opposite sign, what you deny”, he further commented. Stoilov clarified that the proposals made by the authorities do not aim at objectifying knowledge in schools, but only at instilling a “correct” ideology for children to profess. “We dispute this and will not accept it,” he said categorically.