Musiana is 9 years old and she lives in a town with population of some 12,000 people in Northwest Bulgaria – the region is one of the poorest in terms of economy. School was everything to the girl, but with time she was forced to put education away, in order to take care of her family’s farm. Her parents stopped her from school, for a month initially, but most likely it would take the whole school year. The interference of the local school principal proved to be decisive, as he convinced the parents to let the girl study again. There are plenty examples of that kind and after long absences all teachers help with additional classes, in order for the students to catch up. At the same time thousands of other kids simply don’t show up in class one day and nobody cares to get them back, for different reasons – poverty, lack of values and support inside the system of education etc.

Volunteers of the Teach For Bulgaria Foundation work across poor regions, helping school principals and students. Their Person for Example program attracts young Bulgarians who have received their university diploma abroad and who are ready to become teachers and to contribute for the change of the system. Those dozens of young teachers are not the universal medicine against the dropping out of students. However, it helps for sure to broaden their horizons, to realize more on what they are to face after their graduation and also to get inspired by the personal example of the successful young Bulgarians. Evgenia Nestorova, 23, a teacher in the town of Novi Iskar near Sofia has recently graduated film studies at a London university:

“Even upon my departure to London I was aware that I would return to Bulgaria afterwards, since I had always loved my country. I also knew that change was necessary. I have always looked for a way to be useful, to contribute to that change. Thus I came upon the Teach For Bulgaria Foundation (Zaedno v Chas), which coincides with my values because it looks for the biggest disadvantages within our society with the idea to repair those. Experts say that students from the poorer regions lag behind in their studies by at least three years, compared to their city coevals. There are some 800 kids at the school where I teach now and their will to study is great, so helping them turned into my personal goal. I have fallen in love with teaching, it changes me on an everyday basis. I can’t compare the feeling to anything else. The contact with so many children is also a stimulus, as different goals are set in each separate class.”

Evgenia has realized that each word or deed of hers have their impact on the students. So she has turned into a real Example Person with her experience abroad and the self-confidence due to her English, practiced in GB.

Maya Stoyanova –Warner from the Together in Class initiative gives similar example while attracting new teachers:

“Many people with various experience apply under the program and some of them have never worked with children. We provide special additional training for such applicants, in order for those to be ready to face challenges at school. My motivation to join the program were the stories of the initial team of teachers who had entered the classroom in 2011. I read about their experience and felt the content due to results in school. Memories of my own life in school flushed my mind. I thought about the different path that I would go along if those weren’t exactly my teachers. I often talk to my students about my English teacher at high school. It’s not a secret that a foreign language spoken well opens many doors…”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev