02 - Bulgaria - Ongoing debates and future developments
The current challenges before the higher education system are connected with the necessity to
establish market orientation, predominant participation of the users in determining the future
development of the system, the application of mechanisms (both legislative and practical) for the
establishment of the lifelong learning concept and ensuring the unhindered mobility of young people.
The main topic of ongoing debates is the establishment of an efficient connection between tertiary
education and the labour market. A large part of the employers declare that there is a lack of
specialists with the qualifications necessary for the immediate performance of labour duties in a highly
technological environment. There is also a deficiency of adequately prepared employees in the sphere
of services, tourism, information technologies and natural sciences. There is a severe deficiency of
qualified foreign language teachers within the system of school education. A serious issue connected
with the labour market is the lack of opportunity for practical skills acquisition through the programmes
in tertiary education. The facilities and equipment for practical training of future specialists are
outdated and the functioning enterprises are unable to provide enough places for trainees.
Another
issue subject to discussion in relation to education and the labour market is the orientation of higher
education towards more and generally applicable skills and key competences. Both in public and
professional respect there is an ongoing discussion about the introduction of an approach which is to
define and measure the results from activities in higher education through the results achieved by
individual learners on certain structural levels.
Despite the fact that curricula and syllabi have been subject to a serious reorganization due to the
adopting of degree education, during the process of their drawing up the principle of “opportunities on
supply” and not “conditions of demand” is still applied.
A large number of the tertiary schools draw up
their curricula in compliance with the available scientific and teaching capacity, and not in compliance
with the requirements of the employers and the labour market. In that relation, the concept of a real
module principle and the development of curricula according to the desire of the students /personal
educational and vocational profile of students/ have not been introduced yet.
There are two clearly defined and complementary levels that function within the system created to
ensure the quality of tertiary education- internal institutional ensuring of quality and external
assessment, conducted on a national level. The idea for complementation and interaction between the
two levels gives good results and helps harmonize institutional and national policies. However, there is
still a certain degree of formality in the functioning of the internal quality systems which results in too
many responsibilities and expectations in relation to the activity of the National Evaluation and
Accreditation Agency. Different possibilities are being discussed for exchange of good practices
between the institutions themselves for the application of internal systems for maintaining the quality,
strengthening internationalization when the criteria for institutional ensuring of quality are improved,
the positive effect from the participation of external experts/foreign/ and the possibilities to restrict the
accreditation procedures to institutional level.
A serious issue in ensuring the academic activity and the achievements of tertiary schools is the
withdrawal of young people from the academic career.
Despite the legislative and practical measures
that have been applied in that field for the past few years, there is only a very slight increase in the
interest in doctoral education. Among the main factors affecting that process are the low financial
provision of that specific educational and scientific degree and the realization of the graduates in an
academic aspect /higher schools, scientific institutes etc./ as well as outside the academic structures.
The financial support of state tertiary schools is turning into an ever growing problem for the system.
On the one hand, the state budget funds allocated to that are very insufficient and represent one of the
lowest percent of the GDP allocated to higher education as compared to Europe /0,9%/. On the other
hand, the higher schools themselves do not absorb these funds efficiently enough. New ways for the
more efficient and rational use of the available resources need to be found as well as alternative
sources of funding of the system. Good examples in that respect can be seen in some universities
/mainly technical/ which ensure additional financial resources through contracts for the implementation
and introduction of scientific projects. Another means of funding that is being discussed are tuition fees
that students pay for their education.
All the issues discussed within the system of higher education and the suggestions for changes are
connected with the general striving of the national and institutional levels for improvement in the
quality of tertiary education and its efficient management.
Eurydice - the information network on education in Europe
Date: 2009
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