From the distribution of pies from the even tighter 2012 budget the small winner, at least at first glance, turned out to be the Ministry of Education and Science. For the maintenance of public schools the government has earmarked BGN45 million more, of which BGN15 million will go to science. Minister Sergei Ignatov welcomed the increase, which would suffice for everything. In the crisis, in which the country and Europe as a whole is, I am happy. We are one of the few ministries that have actually increased their budget. It will enhance the care for our children and, of course, for universities to implement policies that we have envisaged and raise the standard, said Minister Ignatov. A deeper analysis of the state subsidy for education shows that the more money is still not sufficient to ensure the normal existence of the system. And the education and scientific sector we will still remain hungry. Because these BGN45 million more are actually only 1.61 percent increase from the totally provided BGN2.748 billion for education in 2012.
And the cost of schools, according to the calculation of the trade unions, has increased by 12% over the past three years. Three years is the period that the single standard cost per student has been frozen at BGN1,350. Needless to say, this is the lowest rate in the European Union. Bulgaria spends on maintenance of a child in kindergartens or a student on average three times less than the countries of the continent do. A cause for bewilderment is the fact that the money for clothing for teachers are included in the cost per student and so one can report an artificial increase without actually raising the amount.
The percentage of GDP allocated to education will remain almost the same – about 3.37 per cent as compared to 5 per cent in the early 90s. A purpose of the Europe 2020 strategy, which the country supposedly follows, requires all EU member states to spend at least 10% of GDP to education. This would be achievable only if the share of budget expenditures increased by 0.73% per annum. So for 2012, it had to be set at least at 4.1% for the sector. According to Irena Zareva by the Institute of Economic Research of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria is the only country which ventures to cut the funds for education and science during a crisis.
The announced new model for funding of mainstream schools still remains unclear. To make any change in the methodology for obtaining funds from delegated budgets, there is a need for a broad public discussion of specific parameters and changes in the wording of the Education Act. They are mainly related to human capital in the educational system. The age structure of teachers and trainers in recent years deteriorated dramatically. Personnel in this profession becomes older and less communicative to the new generation of students, because they work under educational methods of the 60s and 70s.
