_Table 8. Number of Teachers in Bulgaria, Selected School Years, 1938-70_
--------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+---------- Level | 1938/39 | 1948/49 | 1960/61 | 1970/71 --------------------------+-----------|-----------+-----------+---------- Kindergarten | 286 | n.a. | 11,873 | 18,185 Primary | 24,830 | 34,000 | * | * Secondary | 2,874 | 4,893 | * | * | ------ | ------ | ------ | ------ Total primary-secondary | 27,704 | 38,893 | 51,067 | 54,068 Vocational technical | n.a. | n.a. | 2,835 | 2,734 Secondary vocational | n.a. | n.a. | 0 | 5,720 Technical | n.a. | n.a. | 5,307 | 9,045 | ------ | ------ | ------ | ------ Total technical | 2,487 | 1,109 | 8,142 | 17,499 Teacher training | 50 | n.a. | 251 | 406 Higher education | 588 | 1,169 | 3,883 | 7,125 --------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+---------- n.a.--not available. * In 1960 the primary and secondary levels were unified under one system.
The concept of practical work as an integral part of the curriculum was again emphasized, and the scope of vocational training grew enormously as vocational and technical schools increased threefold. Although all students had to perform certain tasks as part of their basic education, the 1957-58 reforms dictated that graduates of higher technical and agricultural institutions had to perform one year of practical work before graduation. As the concept of polytechnical education became widespread at the secondary level, practical work consumed up to one-third of the total hours of education. Although experimental vocational training was introduced into the curricula of some gymnasiums in this period, other gymnasiums, particularly in the rural areas, required students to spend several hours weekly in formal vocational studies.
In the same 1957-58 period a number of broad, rather than structural, reforms were initiated. Schools for ethnic minorities were established in which, despite the fact that study of the Bulgarian language was compulsory, teaching was performed in the language of the minority group. All schools of general education became officially coeducational, and evening classes for workers were initiated. At the same time, although there already had been some financial assistance, scholarships were presented on a wide scale. In the 1957-58 academic year 46 percent of all students in institutions of higher education received stipends from the government. Although there were few scholarships given to gymnasium students, with the exception of Turkish students who were considered the least educated group, students in professional schools and technical colleges were the recipients of a large number of governmental stipends.