The 18^th conference of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad (ABSA) is just a few days away. This year the forum is taking place in Veliko Tarnovo from 22 to 24 July under the patronage of Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev in partnership with the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad (EABA) and the Association of Bulgarian Folklore Ensembles Abroad (ABFEA). BNR’s Radio Bulgaria is once again media partner of the event to be attended also by the Bulgarian National Radio’s Director General Milen Mitev and by Radio Bulgaria’s Editor-in-Chief Krasimir Martinov.

“I would like to thank Radio Bulgaria for being our regular media partner which helps the work of the Association, and of the schools abroad because you popularize their activities which sometimes go unnoticed,” says Assoc. Prof. Dr. Adriana Lubenova, lecturer at the Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv and member of the board of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad.

In the time since the previous conference in the summer of 2024 in Sofia, Assoc. Prof. Lubenova says she and her colleagues from all over the world have accomplished a lot, and the cultural programme has been diverse and beneficial.

“A lot of online seminars took place, as well as master classes, an international contest for reading in the Bulgarian language for children from the 3^rd and 4^th grade. We organized an international conference on AI in education in London in April targeted at the use of artificial intelligence by teachers at the Bulgarian schools. It was the second such forum – the first one took place in Portugal last year.

A seminar was held in Larnaca, Cyprus, dedicated to the multilingual environment as a challenge in the education of Bulgarian children abroad. There was an online information campaign about the opportunities universities in Bulgaria offer children from the diaspora – and more than 20 universities took part in it. What the Association has been working on for years is to have Bulgarian admitted as a graduation exam language. Unfortunately, in Europe this is something that is slower and more difficult to achieve.”

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On 24 July, Assoc. Prof. Adriana Lubenova will moderate the final discussion from the programme which is dedicated to the problems the Bulgarian weekend schools face and the long-term objectives and legislative changes the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad deems necessary. Assoc. Prof. Lubenova lays emphasis on the need to amend Article 68 of the Higher Education Act which states the children from which countries, who have acquired Bulgarian citizenship or permanent residence, can apply to a university in Bulgaria.

“Because at the moment more than three-quarters of the children attending the Bulgarian schools abroad were born outside Bulgaria. Very often the parents submit their children’s citizenship papers, something which is encouraged by the Bulgarian authorities, but afterwards they are not able to benefit from the Council of Ministers decree (regarding financing, scholarships and the quotas for admission to universities of persons with Bulgarian citizenship from other countries – editorial note). Of course, we shall also look into ways of improving the quality of education and making our schools more attractive to secondary school children.”

Why is it so difficult to keep children at the Sunday schools once they have grown older?

“Children are too busy, they have no free time – during the week they go school, do some sport, on weekends they go to the Bulgarian school,” Assoc. Prof. Lubenova explains. “Some of the Bulgarian schools abroad allow the children to leave a year earlier so they can graduate from the Bulgarian school in the 11^th grade and then have time to get ready for their exams at their regular school.”

Financing is a problem Bulgarian schools abroad still face. The number of Bulgarian schools in other countries is growing by the year, the state financing is also increasing - but the inflation in the world has made the subsidies for covering utilities, supplies and often minimum pay for the teachers - a real challenge for the heads of these schools, says Adriana Lubenova.

“The forum in Veliko Tarnovo will also focus on study and play – “Study while playing, play while studying!”. Creativity and active study at the Bulgarian schools abroad has proved a key factor for attracting and keeping Bulgarian children around the world at these schools. Because, let us not forget – Bulgarian schools abroad are not obligatory, they are an expression of the parents’ and children’s interest and wishes. Studying the language is not enough to create national identity. At the moment more than 70% of the children studying at the Bulgarian schools abroad were born outside Bulgaria. That is why their education, their bond with Bulgaria – in a different way and with a different approach – is so important,” says Assoc. Prof. Adriana Lubenova.  

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Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos courtesy of Adriana Lubenova, St. St. Cyril and Methodius school in Valladolid, Spain, botevacademy.org, press secretariat, BTA, Krasimir Martinov, St. Ivan Rilski school in Cambridge, St. St. Cyril and Methodius school in Athens, bg-euregio.de, Bulgarche school – Crewe, Nottingham, Burton-on-Trent, First Bulgarian Sunday School St. Ivan Rilski, Palma de Mallorca