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From 2020 on, the schools will receive additional funds to their delegated budgets for modernizations of the educational process. They will be able to use the funding for innovations, improving the quality of education, including buying necessary equipment. The idea is every school to become a generator of innovations, developed according to the local specifics. This was stated by the Minister of Education Krassimir Valchev during a meeting with Roma teachers, organized by Center “Amalipe” and the Ministry of Education and Science on 8th of April. 

More than 30 teachers and mediators discussed the educational problems with Minister Valchev, Deputy Minister Denitsa Satcheva, head of directorates in the Ministry of Educations, the director of the Center for educational integration Manuela Radeva and experts from the Ministry. The meeting was moderated by Associated Professor. Yosif Nunev.

Minister Valchev thanked Center Amalipe for their constant work with tens, even hundreds of schools, recognizing the organization as a real center for educational integration policies. “During my work travels in the country I visit schools, working in difficult conditions and the schools from the Amalipe Network stand out with actual achievements.” said he. 

Minister Valchev emphasized on the commitment of the Ministry to the policies of educational integration. For second year the Ministry provides serious additional funding for work with vulnerable groups for supporting the efforts the schools make to literate and keep in class children from families with lower educational status. In 2019 such funding will be provided for the secondary educational level too. The National programme for desegregation through which the Ministry will support the municipalities to cover the expenses for transportation, school supplies and additional classes for students, participating in desegregation initiatives starts this year. The initiatives and activities should be suggested by the municipalities, which are mainly responsible.

Deputy Minister Satcheva added that desegregation will achieve success and will become sustainable when expands from the current state of right advocacy and starts including the business. The big companies are “hungry” for qualified work force and could be included in the desegregation process. 

In his welcoming speech, the Chair of Amalipe Deyan Kolev thanked that for seventh consecutive year the Ministry of Education and Science and Center Amalipe co-organize the meeting of the Minister and Roma teachers on the International Roma day, 8th of April. In the field of education the Roma community should not be associated only with leaving school and segregation but with the necessity of modernizing the educational process including presenting the intercultural and interactive education. He thanked for the implementation of the proposals from the last year`s meeting and recommended to be approved and other proposals such as free kindergarten for the mandatory preschool age, expanding the reach of the free transportation for students in secondary schools as part of Article 283, paragraph 2 from the Law for preschool and school education, and others. 

The following discussion was moderated by Assoc. Prof. .Yosif Nunev. The participants raised up a lot of questions with regard to the educational programs, the education of children, migrating abroad, desegregation and the lack of policies in that direction, the removal of fees for kindergartens and Project “Active inclusion in preschool education”, the support of united schools and implementation of professional education in said schools, the development of intercultural education, project “Support for success” and many others 

Minister Valchev and Deputy Minister Sacheva answered to every question. Summarizing the discussion Assoc. Prof. Nunev shared that the Roma teachers and students have the chance to meet and work with other Roma colleagues. In the same time they have the moral obligation and responsibility to lead hundreds, even thousands: this will change in a good way not only the community, but the whole educational system. 

Minister Valchev awarded the students – winners in the contest “From hate speech to happy speech”. Hours before the event they were ambassadors, ministers and even a president for a day as part of the initiative “School leaders – ministers and ambassadors for a day” – more information about the initiative you can find here.