Education in Bulgaria is guided and overseen by Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science. Compulsory education includes three years of pre-primary education, primary education, and secondary education. Education is compulsory until age of 16. Compulsory education at state schools is free of charge. The state and private higher education schools, colleges and universities charge fees, although they offer students scholarships.
In 1998 enrollment in the primary grades was 93 percent of eligible students, and enrollment in the secondary grades was 81 percent of eligible students. With the gender ratio of female to male students in primary schools was 0.97, and the ratio in secondary schools was 0.98. Because of the prior Bulgaria's low birthrate during the postcommunist period, total primary and secondary school enrollment was in a slightly decreased level in the beginning of the post-communist period, that was causing some reductions in teaching staff and facilities. But at the same time, private schools and colleges appeared and their number quickly increased by 10 times during the 1990s. Bulgaria's higher education system was reorganized in the mid-1990s. Between 1995 and 2002, the number of university graduates increased from 33,000 to 50,000. In 2002 in higher learning 42 universities and colleges were in operation, and 215,700 students were enrolled. In 2003 some 4.9 percent of Bulgaria's national budget was devoted to education.
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that Bulgaria is fulfilling only 75.7% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income. HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Bulgaria's income level, the nation is achieving 62.1% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education and 89.3% for secondary education.
History of Bulgarian education
The first schools in Bulgaria were opened in the 9th century by the Tsar Simeon The Great. Two notable linguistic literary church schools that taught the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets to the Christianized Bulgarian slavs were also established in that period at Ohrid and Preslav, with the one in Ohrid having more than 3000 students at one point.
Modern schools began opening in the early 19th century (during the National Revival) first for boys and then for girls. Those schools provided only basic education, such as reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. Students who wished to continue their education had to go study abroad. After Bulgaria overturned the Ottoman rule in 1878, it started laying the foundations of its educational system. In 1878 the government passed the Temporary Law on National Schools. This law stimulated the establishment of schools in villages. However, many peasants did not let their children attend school because they thought education was not relevant to peasant life. Furthermore, several universities were established in the period 1878 - 1918. Educational process in Bulgaria was disrupted during the Balkan Wars (1912 - 1913) and World War I. By the mid-1920s normal function of schools had been restored.
During the communist era, the Soviet Union had a great impact on Bulgarian educational system. A new form of education was brought in. Emphasis on liberal arts was replaced by increased technical training. In 1979 Zhivkov created the Unified Secondary Polytechnical School, which was a twelve-grade program focusing mainly on technical subjects. After the end of the Zhivkov Era, the Bulgarian educational system was completely reconstructed. The government sought to depoliticize the system and take the opinions of others into consideration.
Structure of the educational system
The system consists of four levels:
Preschool education
Pre-primary education (preschool education) accepts children between 3 and 6/7 years old, who attend kindergarten optionally, with the requirement that prior to starting school, children must attend three years of pre-school education.
During the school year 2007/2008, 74.8% of children aged 3–6 years were enrolled in kindergartens.