The starting salary of teachers in Bulgaria is expected to reach 460 euro a month in the beginning of 2019. This was agreed in June by the Ministry of Education and Science and its social partners. The aim of the agreement is to create more favorable conditions for the employees in the system of school and pre-school education. But will financial incentives succeed in raising the attractiveness of the teacher’s profession among young Bulgarians?

Statistics show that just 8 percent of teachers in Bulgaria are under 35 years of age. "Young people have no desire to become teachers. This is the first problem to be solved and it will not be solved with higher remuneration," Adrian Nikolov of the Institute for Market Economics says. He is the author of an analysis on the topic of "Educational practices that create good teachers" and told the Bulgarian National Radio about the results of the study:

"High remuneration is important but there are many other factors that contribute to the quality of education. Salaries are perhaps one of the least important factors. What we see is little participation in various professional development programs. It is very common for teachers not to improve their skills and abilities after the end of their higher education. Many do not get acquainted with new practices and modern methods in the field of education. Organizing trainings in the schools can be helpful. In this country more centralized seminars are organized, but they resemble holidays rather than actual trainings and do not bring much result."

“The system of assessment of teachers’ work also needs updating. We need to look at some meaningful mix between the observations of three sides - pupils, parents and ministry. Some part of the remuneration must be linked to this assessment," Nikolov says. According to him, it is important to motivate good teachers to work in small settlements where children often do not have access to good education.

"It seems that the Ministry of Education has the will for reforms. There is a desire to change the current situation, but at this stage it seems to me that steps are too hesitant. I would like to see a much more radical approach," Adrian Nikolov says.

Editor: Elena Karkalanova

English: Alexander Markov