Area Handbook For Bulgaria Part 12

Statements in subsequent const.i.tutions indicated an increased emphasis on the socialist content of education and its close ties with the Soviet model on which it was based. In 1949 the government issued a statement declaring that education would be "in the spirit of socialism, proletarian internationalism, and indissoluble brotherly friends.h.i.+p with the Soviet Union." Two years later the government stated that "the people's school is a powerful weapon in the hands of the Communist Party and the people's democratic state for education and Communist indoctrination of the people." In the present-day period both Todor Zhivkov, who is the first secretary of the party, and the minister of national education (formerly known as the minister of public education) have reinforced the purpose and function of education in a socialist society. In 1966 the minister of national education stated: "The work of the school, its major and minor tasks--everything for which it exists--must be subordinated to its fundamental objective: training and educating the new man of communist society."

Certain distinctive principles form the basis for communist policies of education in Bulgaria. Chief among these is the close patterning of the system on the Soviet model. For this reason Bulgaria tends to be somewhat cautious in its approach to education and reluctant to make sweeping reforms unless the Soviets provide a model for change.

The principle of a universally accessible system of education has top priority, and in fact the near-universal nature of education in Bulgaria has brought about almost complete literacy. Whereas before 1944 many Bulgarians had never attended school, in mid-1973 almost every Bulgarian was able to attend some form of school. In some areas of the educational system, particularly in inst.i.tutions of higher education, the number of students has increased as much as eightfold.

Another principle of communist education in Bulgaria is the concept of socially useful work, which must be performed by all students at all levels of education. The principle of work in education is initiated at the very lowest levels of the system; it progresses into increasingly longer periods as the student advances in the school system. In the higher grades, students work for significant periods of time in agriculture, industry, and construction. In the higher levels of education the student must sign a doc.u.ment that obligates him to accept a working a.s.signment, which should be related to his field of specialization, for a period of three to five years.

Another facet of the system is the eradication of old values and their replacement with new socialist values (see ch. 4). One of the first tasks of Bulgarian educators was to eliminate religious teachings and practices in the schools. Religion, as a subject, was eliminated in the early years as was the history of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Students are taught that atheism is both reasonable and scientific; religion is dismissed as a relic of a superst.i.tious and undesirable past. By the same token, students are indoctrinated strongly by teachers, directors of extracurricular activities, and colleagues to revere and swear allegiance to the government.

Another guiding principle of the educational system in Bulgaria, which was initiated at the time of the takeover and still obtained to some degree in 1973, is the concept that sons and daughters of the worker and peasant cla.s.ses should be favored in terms of their preference of access to education, particularly at the higher levels. This policy was clearly motivated by a desire to compensate for the exclusion of this cla.s.s from such inst.i.tutions in the past. In the early communist years inst.i.tutions of higher education charged tuition, but children of the worker-peasant cla.s.ses were exempted. By 1954 this cla.s.s const.i.tuted 20 percent of the higher education population, a figure that by 1970 had risen to 78 percent. In 1973 the government was still maintaining a preferential clause for these students in higher education and reserved 10 percent of the places in such inst.i.tutions for them.

Another principle of the educational system is the promotion of technical or vocational education and the simultaneous downgrading of the humanities. Academic studies were quant.i.tatively reduced in order to place greater emphasis on practical work. When a student has completed his formal education in the school system, he will have at the time spent at least one-third of his school hours working on a farm, in a factory, or at some other enterprise. In the curriculum itself technical subjects are given a place of greater importance than the humanities.

Although studies have indicated that a great many students seeking admission to inst.i.tutions of higher education aspire to the study of the humanities, governmental policies have limited the number of places available in these areas in order to train technical-vocational specialists to meet the needs of the economy (see ch. 12).

The last important principle of Bulgarian education is the nationalization and secularization of the school system. When the Communists took power in the 1940s, they quickly closed all foreign and private schools with the exception of schools for the children of Soviet officials and diplomats. Schools of ethnic minorities fell under the aegis of the government and thereby lost all autonomy. Ironically, in 1973 the only private school that existed was related to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. As the church is subservient to and dependent upon the state, however, the existence of such a school undoubtedly represented little threat to the government.

EDUCATIONAL REFORMS

Between the years 1944 and 1948 the Communists set about eradicating the prewar educational system. By 1947, when the const.i.tution (also called the Dimitrov Const.i.tution) was enacted, all prewar textbooks had been replaced by communist texts; all schoolteachers and university professors who were considered reactionary or fascist had been replaced by persons loyal to the Fatherland Front (Otechestven Front) government; and all inst.i.tutions of higher education had been opened to workers and their children, whereas students thought to have fascist or reactionary tendencies were denied admittance.

The Dimitrov Const.i.tution stipulated further that all schools, including those that had previously been private, would be the property of the state; that all foreign schools would be closed for the academic year 1948-49; and that religious schools would be discontinued. Ironically, the only denominational schools that were allowed to continue were those that trained priests, but these schools had to have special permission from the state in order to continue their operations.

In 1948 and 1949 another series of reforms was initiated, which, although less sweeping than the original reforms, tended to pattern the Bulgarian school system more closely on that of the Soviet Union. In August 1949 a joint resolution of the BKP Central Committee and the Council of Ministers declared that education would be carried out in the spirit of socialism, based both on the teachings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and on Bulgarian friends.h.i.+p with the Soviet Union.

The ideological studies introduced into the curriculum consisted of the fundamental principles of Marx and Lenin, the history of the communist party of the Soviet Union, and the history of the BKP. All of these subjects became obligatory from kindergarten.

The second initiative in the 1948-49 reforms was the declaration that all universities and inst.i.tutions of higher education as well as the Academy of Sciences were no longer autonomous. A third reform during this period was the reduction from five to four years of the gymnasium, which in turn reduced the total schooling from twelve to eleven years.

The fourth reform was the redesigning of polytechnic education to greatly increase the number of trained graduates to fill the rapidly escalating demands of the economy.

In statistical terms the results of the various communist reforms were mixed. Although the number of primary and secondary schools increased slightly overall from 1938 to 1948, there was hardly any appreciable growth in primary schools, whereas secondary schools nearly doubled. The number of students, similarly, barely changed in the same ten-year period; the number of primary students actually declined, but the number of secondary students grew appreciably (see table 6; table 7).

Higher education, on the other hand, made great strides after the communist takeover as the number of universities and other inst.i.tutions of higher education increased by one-third. Despite the emphasis on technical and vocational education, such schools dropped in terms of facilities, students, and teachers during the early communist years. The number of teachers of polytechnic subjects also declined during the period (see table 8).

_Table 6. Number of Schools in Bulgaria, Selected Years, 1938-70_

--------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------- Level 1938/39 1948/49 1960/61 1970/71 --------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------- Kindergarten 254 n.a. 6,570 8,037 Primary 7,291 7,872 * *

Secondary 133 253 * *

------ ------ ------- ------- Total primary-secondary 7,424 8,125 5,877 4,197 Vocational technical n.a. n.a. 236 132 Secondary vocational n.a. n.a. 0 190 Technical n.a. n.a. 231 246 ------ ------ ------- ------ Total technical 384 159 467 568 Teacher training 5 n.a. 18 20 Higher education 12 19 20 26 --------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------- n.a.--not available.

* In 1960 the primary and secondary levels were unified under one system.

_Table 7. Number of Students in Bulgaria, Selected School Years, 1938-70_

--------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------- Level 1938/39 1948/49 1960/61 1970/71 --------------------------+----------- -----------+-----------+----------- Kindergarten 12,859 n.a. 281,000 331,960 Primary 955,330 928,934 * *

Secondary 73,561 129,396 * *

--------- --------- --------- --------- Total primary-secondary 1,028,891 1,058,330 1,212,383 1,154,630 Vocational technical n.a. n.a. 42,123 47,253 Secondary vocational n.a. n.a. 0 83,038 Technical n.a. n.a. 93,944 152,919 --------- --------- --------- --------- Total technical 46,925 31,826 136,067 283,210 Teacher training 401 n.a. 4,203 6,921 Higher education 11,443 29,639 54,965 89,331 --------------------------+-----------+----------------------------------- n.a.--not available.

* In 1960 the primary and secondary levels were unified under one system.

The next reforms occurred in 1957 and in 1958 and placed a much stronger emphasis on technical-vocational training, while the years of total schooling were again increased. The period of secondary schooling consisted of a five-year program rather than the previous four, thus extending the entire period of education to twelve years. The network of professional schools was expanded significantly, and teacher training was upgraded and given new emphasis. In 1958 there were specialized professional schools with approximately 64,000 students studying various aspects of industry and agriculture. At approximately the same time there were twenty-two pedagogical schools with an enrollment of 8,989 students.

_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 inst.i.tutions 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 cla.s.ses for workers were initiated. At the same time, although there already had been some financial a.s.sistance, scholars.h.i.+ps were presented on a wide scale. In the 1957-58 academic year 46 percent of all students in inst.i.tutions of higher education received stipends from the government. Although there were few scholars.h.i.+ps 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.

The reforms of 1959 were of more lasting significance than were the 1957-58 reforms. Unlike the latter reforms, which represented a slight deviation from the Soviet educational model, the 1959 reforms returned the Bulgarian system once more to the original Soviet pattern. In 1958 Nikita Khrushchev wrote a treatise called "Strengthening the Ties Between School and Life" in which he demanded a close integration of the educational system and the economy. Shortly thereafter, Zhivkov declared that the 1957-58 school reforms in his own country were inadequate and asked for a basic reorganization of the entire school system. In July 1959 a basic law, reorganizing the entire school system, was pa.s.sed.

This law was ent.i.tled "Law on Establis.h.i.+ng a Closer Link Between Education and Practical Life and on Furthering the Development of Public Education in the People's Republic of Bulgaria." Its stated objectives were: "To prepare youth for life by combining education and instruction with practical and production work" and "to imbue the young people with a love of work and a spirit of patriotism and international solidarity."

The law proposed the introduction of polytechnic studies on an unprecedented scale in order to provide skilled workers for agriculture and industry. Although the main objective was to meet the demands of the economy, it was hoped that the new emphasis on technical subjects would break down the exclusiveness of the educated cla.s.ses, while socializing the younger generation in communist ideological terms.

In practical terms the 1959 reforms introduced a unified twelve-year so-called secondary school--despite the fact that it included the elementary grades as well--called the medium polytechnical school, which totally replaced the existing five-year basic school and the four-year medium school or gymnasium. The medium polytechnical school was divided into an eight-year elementary course and a four-year upper course. After completing the basic school the student was faced with four alternatives. He could enter: the upper course, which provided general education plus specialization in an area of production; a medium professional school or technic.u.m, which provided a specialized education; a professional technical college, which prepared him for production in the economy; or the so-called miscellaneous training, which included courses organized by plants, factories, and cooperatives.

At the same time the new law provided for the improvement of teacher training. All teachers who taught in the fifth level or above were required to have a university education or its equivalent. Teachers who taught in kindergartens or the first to fourth levels were required to take a three-year course after the obligatory twelve-year course of schooling.

The reforms were later criticized, however, on much more far-reaching grounds. Some felt that technical specialization was stressed to such an extreme that the liberal arts were altogether ignored. Some complained that, although students were overburdened with superfluous details of overspecialized subjects, teachers were still basically unprepared to teach these subjects. Others felt that there was a lack of correlation between the work that the student had to perform and his or her area of expertise. Still others realized that there was a basic clash between the managers who supervised the worker-students and the students themselves.

Despite much criticism about the reforms, in terms of bare statistics they were successful in greatly increasing the emphasis on technical-vocational training. Although the number of primary and secondary students remained approximately at the same level and the number of primary and secondary schools declined drastically, there was a tremendous increase in technical-vocational schools, students, and teachers.

In 1967 there was another wave of educational reform in Bulgaria, as well as in all of Eastern Europe, that once again changed the direction of education. Although most Eastern European countries began to deemphasize polytechnic instruction, Bulgaria's course was more cautious and ambivalent. On the one hand, Bulgarian educators stated that the time allotted for practical training would be increased, while on the other hand, efforts were made to reintroduce the humanities into the curriculum. In the last three grades of the upper course, the curriculum was divided into two branches: natural science and mathematics, and the humanities. The number of general education subjects was gradually increased, and there was renewed emphasis on foreign languages and the social sciences.

By 1969, however, authorities once again perceived certain problems in the educational system and proposed counteracting reforms. One problem was the relative cost of higher education, which was expanding, as compared to the cost of primary education, which was both cheaper and contracting. A second problem was the question of the availability of trained persons for the national economy because of the long periods of schooling then required. It was argued that by the time a young man had completed his education and his military training, he was twenty-five or twenty-six years old. A third problem was the intense compet.i.tion for places in higher education and other postsecondary inst.i.tutions. In 1969 approximately 70,000 to 75,000 students leaving secondary schools competed with each other for 20,000 places at the university level. A fourth problem was whether the polytechnic school should place primary emphasis on trade specialization or on academic subjects.

In the same year serious thought was given to the solution of these problems, and tentative measures were proposed. The major thrust of these proposals was to enable students to meet the needs of the economy by shortening the period of overall education. It was proposed that a unified polytechnic school, which would fuse general and professional elements of education, would replace the current, professionally oriented polytechnic school. At the same time children would enter school at the age of six, instead of the customary seven. The secondary polytechnic school would be a ten-year instead of a twelve-year course, allowing students to graduate at the age of sixteen. Most courses in higher education would be reduced from five to four years, enabling students to complete all levels of education by the age of twenty rather than twenty-five.

The reforms would perhaps have a greater impact on the secondary system than the other levels, as they envisioned a completely unified secondary school system in which professional and general education would be fused. Specialization in liberal arts, mathematics and economics, chemistry and biology, social sciences, and foreign languages would be offered.

In 1972 these reforms were officially proposed and pa.s.sed by the Council of Ministers. It was antic.i.p.ated that they would be carried out over the next ten to fifteen years. Although the concept of fusing general and professional education in the new unified secondary polytechnic school was not universally popular, the reform embodying this concept was pa.s.sed primarily because of the influence of one of its strongest proponents, Zhivkov.

Other reforms proposed in 1972 dealt with the specific levels of the educational system and with monetary necessities to fulfill these expectations. As it was expected that by 1975 approximately 76 percent of children from three to seven years of age would be in kindergartens, the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1971-75) emphasized the development of a huge network of kindergartens. By 1975, 85 percent of the students attending primary school were expected to go on to the secondary level, and plans were made to increase the construction of boarding and semiboarding schools to accommodate these students. Secondary education was to be made compulsory in order, in Zhivkov's words, "to give every young man and girl the opportunity not only of acquiring scientific knowledge of nature and society and the necessary general culture and polytechnical education, but also of acquiring certain production and technical habits and skills, of preparing themselves for socially useful work."

The main emphasis in the 1972 reforms, however, was on higher education.

It was antic.i.p.ated that there would be some 120,000 students in higher education by 1975. Of this number it was expected that 65,000--or approximately half--would be specialists. Of the 65,000 specialists, half would be engaged in science and technology. Therefore, in 1972 plans were being formulated for the construction of new buildings at many of the major inst.i.tutions of higher education.

In order to fulfill these structural changes, it was decided that both increased expenditures and additional places for students were needed.

During the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1966-70), about 300 million leva (for value of the lev--see Glossary) had been expended on education. In the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1971-75) 500 million leva were to be allocated. In addition, 30,000 more places were to be provided at the preschool level, 28,000 more accommodations at hostels, and 4,500 cla.s.srooms at all levels.

LITERACY

Figures vary to some degree, but at the time of liberation in 1878 between 85 and 90 percent of the Bulgarian population was illiterate. By the early twentieth century, however, Bulgaria had achieved the highest literacy rate in the Balkans. Although some scholars stated that only some 31 percent of the population over school age was literate, by 1920 nearly 50 percent of the population over school age was literate. By 1934 only 31.6 percent of the population over school age was still illiterate, and by 1940 this figure was reduced to between 20 and 25 percent.

After the Communists took power in the country, literacy increased at a rapid pace. In 1956 only 17.6 percent of the population over twenty-five was illiterate, and by 1965 only 8.6 percent was illiterate. In 1973, although total literacy for people under fifty years of age was claimed by the government, the rate of literacy of this group was probably somewhere between 90 and 100 percent.