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1. To 2.1. The main reasons for early school leaving (ESL)

B. Educational reasons

Proposal : Educational reasons for ESL are related to the lack of a large emphasis on intercultural education and skills of teaching and managerial staff in the nursery and school to work in a multicultural environment .

Justification:

Although in recent years the use of intercultural elements gradually enters the curriculum, traditions and culture of minority communities in Bulgaria are still underrepresented in the curriculum . In this way the school is still official and a foreign body in the eyes of children from vulnerable ethnic communities. They can not see in it something of their own . Practice shows that the overlapping elements of the culture and traditions of minorities in the curriculum makes school interesting for these kids , in particular Roma , and increases their motivation for education and the commitment of their parents. Seeing some of the traditions in the classroom and in textbooks , a Roma child will start to see school less "foreign ." Repeated by almost all sociologists is the fact that the value system of the Roma family is the most important role while the school stays aside . The inclusion of elements of Roma culture in the curriculum shows that the school is truly a place for everyone . This brings the school to the family and the value system of the Roma, which reflects in the number of attracted and retained in school Roma children. Monitoring the attendance and level of dropout of Roma children, participating in the groups ' Ethnic Folklore - Roma Folklore " (which take the form of EPA, ECA or activities of interest in over 250 schools per year over the last 10 years) shows that the percentage of dropping out of school is 0.024% and the average number of absences per child (including excused and unexcused) is 15.12 .

Meanwhile, despite the many training courses organized by various institutions (including kindergartens and schools )there is still a significant number of teaching staff, who haven’t got the necessary skills to work in a multicultural environment , and directors - the ability to manage work in a multicultural environment. This leads to the creation of infavorable environment for children from ethnic minorities.

C. Ethnic and cultural reasons

Suggestion: The following to be add:

Social environment in segregated Roma living spaces ( and in no case at all Roma) has a significant impact on the child and determines the following most specific reasons for ESL : an earlier marriage , fear of parents to let their elder daughters go to school because she may be stolen , a lower value of education in the patriarchal and especially in marginalized communities, low levels of school readiness ; deficit communicative competence and more. Special attention should be given to children from closed schools as they move , children who do not speak or speak poorly Bulgarian. These reasons can be found in children from other more closed , patriarchal and vulnerable communities located in the middle of Bulgarian Turks and Pomaks ( as a religious minority) .

Justification:

According to the UNICEF report [1] in the period 1998 - 2009 in Bulgaria almost 15 thousand children were born by mothers under the age of 16 . In one-third of these cases mothers have not completed even 15 years of age. Other almost 18 thousand children were born to mothers at 16 years and over 25 thousand children from mothers at 17 years.

Data from the study of CIDT "Amalipe" shows that despite the identified positive trends of modernization , there is  still very high percentage of Roma who consider marriage of children under 16 years of age with the consent of the parents - 30% for normal thing. Moreover , according to research other 13% admitted entering into partnership in marriage relationships , although they think that age is not appropriate. [2]

2 . Section 2.3. Human resources and the problem of early school leaving

We disagree with the statement that " Higher education institutions ensure adequate preparation of educational professionals working with children at risk of early school leaving ." The fact is that most of the senior school that trained teaching staff already have bachelor and master programs , but they provide a minimum of theoretical knowledge, which does not help the young professionals who graduate university to be prepared to enter into a multi-ethnic classroom or work with children with special education needs (SEN). Only a bachelor's or master's program is not a proof of positive example. Indicative is the realization of these students after completion and implementation of these programs in practice , as well as developing practical skills of the students . In this respect it is necessary to develop targeted programs for student practice in a multicultural environment.

3 . section 2.7. Other measures to prevent and reduce early school leaving

Preventive measures of ESL are not limited to entrepreneurship education . Numbers of significant measures that have already led to serious results have been skipped. Therefore , we propose the following to be added .

Through the project " Adult literacy ", implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science under the OP " Human Resources Development " , at the beginning of 2013 through instruction in literacy courses ( initial stage ) and courses for learning the content of V, VI and VII grade are included more than 7100 persons over 16 years and 78% of them  have successfully completed their training.

Unquestionable success was the program to reduce dropouts, initiated by Amalipe which took place during the last three years. In the academic 2012/2013 period it covered 173 schools throughout the country. The program is a comprehensive model for change in the school environment that will lead to reducing the dropouts . It covers working with teachers, parents and students. Guidelines to the program are: further development and expansion of the program to introduce intercultural education through " Ethnic Folklore - Roma Folklore" (in the form of EPA, ECA or activities of interest in SBG ) further development and expansion of the informal network of teachers working for Roma educational integration, providing methodological support and educational tools for creating a classroom that reflects the needs and interests of all children and attracts Roma parents in the learning process, empowering all parents (including Roma ) and their involvement in school life, creating a favorable social environment and change public opinion to support the quality of education and educational integration of Roma children and students. At the end of the academic year 2012/2013 , the percentage of dropouts in these 173 schools was 0.41%, compared with 2.2% in the year prior to their inclusion in the program.

 4 . To 3 . Analysis of the main challenges as main risk groups to be added also:

Children and families living in poverty. In the situational analysis of UNICEF "Children and women in Bulgaria - 2011 " [3] states that according to the European statistical office " Eurostat " in 2010 with the share of poor children from 26.8% in 2010, Bulgaria is among the first places in the level of child poverty among European member states . The absolute number of children in Bulgaria who live below the poverty line in Bulgaria exceeds 337,000 . According to the NSI 2010, almost every second child (including preschool and school age ) falls into the group of " children at risk of poverty or social exclusion ."

UNICEF study report " Reasons for dropping out of school in Bulgaria " [4] also identified poverty as a major risk factor for dropping out of school . Research of the "Open Society" and the World Bank [5] confirms that poverty is one of the prerequisites for failure / non-enrollment in the education system still in pre-school. Almost 15 % of parents in the country , whose 4-6 year old children do not participate in preschool , recognize that they can not pay the fee for kindergarten , while with Roma this proportion is twice as high.

Representatives of vulnerable ethnic and cultural minorities, particularly Roma. The results of numerous studies and analyzes show that the level of enrollment at all levels of education among Roma is dramatically lower than all other minority groups. According to the census in 2011 in the population of children of compulsory school age ( 7 to 15 years) Roma, who do not attend school are 23.2% , Turks - 11.9% , Bulgarian - 5.6% [6].

And with pre-school the inclusion of children from vulnerable minority communities is significantly lower than the national average. According to data from a nationally representative survey "Equality - a path to progress " [7] , in 2011 the share of children attending kindergarten from 3 to 6 years of Bulgarians is over 55 %, while with Roma - almost twice lower - only 30.9% . There is another factor - insufficient training in Bulgarian language for children from these communities, leading to difficulties in entering the school community, closure and isolation, strong disincentives to learning and early leaving the educational system.

Children with special educational needs. In the context of policies on developing inclusive education , the trend for the integration of children with SEN in mainstream schools continues . Risks of ESL related to inadequate training of human resources in pre- school and school education to adoption of children from special schools and classes in mainstream schools. Other negative factors include inadequate facilities and insufficient financial resources for working with children with SEN, their families and the new inclusive environment .

According to the Agency for Social Assistance [8], over the last decade in the age group 0 to 16 years in Bulgaria for every 1,000 children there are 3.5 newly disabled children. Significant problem in research on educational challenges faced by children with disabilities is the shortage of accurate data on the number of children with SEN.

 5 . To 7.1.1 To Provide positive learning environment / development and implementation of policies in the kindergarten and the school to add activities to " preserve and develop the cultural identity of ethnic minority children ," as well as measures to reform the system to determine delegated budgets in a way that stimulates the development of school network in rural areas and small towns ;

6 . To 8 . Coordination mechanism for the implementation of the Strategy to stakeholders involved in the coordination mechanism should include also non-governmental organizations and trade unions.