Back to school

published on 9/15/11 11:47 AM

Photo: BGNES

It is time to go back to school. In Bulgaria, the school bell welcomes pupils back on 15 Sept. The first day of the school year is quite tense with emotions – for the newcomers, the first-graders, in the first place, and also for 12th-graders about to leave school in the summer. In 2500 schools across Bulgaria the new school year opened with the ringing school bell, with the national anthem and with official addresses made by their principals. Most schools have seen various kinds of renovations, and nineteen ones have been fully renovated.

First-graders are dressed up for a major occasion in their lives – they are full of curiosity and with a bit of insecurity. However they also feel pride, because nursery school is now in the past, and they’ve grown up enough to go to school, a step closer to adult life. Now the time of carefree games is over and more time should be given to lessons. The first-graders will also meet with their first teachers. They have to teach them how to read and write, as well as discipline, time management and team work. From this year parents will have to live up to new responsibilities. They are formulated in the new bill on school education that has to be submitted in parliament by the end of the year. Under it every school should constitute a public council that will replace parent boards. The new body will include apart from parents, public figures and municipal representatives. The council will have greater powers – it will control the budget of the school. Besides parents will periodically assess the work of the principal. In this way they will have a say on the careers of principals. There is another novelty aimed to play down youth aggression – the creation of mobile teams of psychologists. This is important to take place, given that many schools do not offer psychological consultations, especially in small towns and villages. Now under an ordinance issued by the minister of education special teams of experts have been made up to tour the country and respond to signals about children at risk. They are expected to tackle both cases of violence in the family, and of aggression between pupils. Under the new bill on school education, psychologists will be appointed in schools that have more than 250 pupils. So far, they were appointed in schools with 500 pupils up. Another novelty is a stage-by-stage introduction of full day lessons for pupils from the first to the seventh grades. Full-day lessons will be financed by the state for second-graders, and inclusion of bigger pupils will be prepared. During this school year central government has allotted EUR 50 million to clubs of interests. The target is to involve at least half of pupils in extra-curricular activities such as music, painting, sport, computing, etc. Besides civil education groups will be recruited for work with problem children. They will be aimed to support such children’s easier integration.

Translated by Daniela Konstantinova

По публикацията работи: Diana Hristakieva

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Back to school

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