Sofia, May 17 (BTA) - The Education and Science Ministry has
four priorities for the following three months until the
caretaker government is replaced by a regular one after snap
elections, Minister Nikolai Denkov told a news conference on
Monday. The first priority is successful completion of the
school year, which includes state matriculation exams, national
external assessment and secondary school admission.

Second, the ministry will make necessary preparations for the
next school year based on an in-depth analysis of the results of
 online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and the problems
of early school leaving and delayed study, Denkov explained. A
package of measures will be proposed for implementation by the
next Education Ministry.

The third priority is higher education. The map of higher
education in Bulgaria will be completed by adding an analytical
part, Denkov said.

Finally, the education and research initiatives in the National
Recovery and Resilience Plan and a number of programmes will be
reviewed.

Deputy Education and Science Minister Maria Gaidarova will be in
 charge of all activities related to the school network, the
completion of the current school year and the preparations for
the next one. Deputy Minister Evgenia Peeva will be responsible
for the analysis of school education and for international
activities. Higher education is in the portfolio of Deputy
Minister Genka Petrova. Scientific research is a responsibility
of Deputy Minister Neli Kosseva.

Asked by a journalist when students will go back to in-person
classes once and for all, Denkov replied that all matters
related to the school network are being discussed between the
ministry, its social partners (government and trade unions) and
the health ministry, and when they arrive at a definitive
decision, they will announce it. At present, older students are
taking turns studying in person and from home, and those from
first to fourth grade have in-person learning as their only
option. NV/VE