The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development Presented at the UNWE a Scientific Publication on the Education Policy Outlook 2023 with Data for Bulgaria
The national event for the presentation of a publication by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development /OECD/, which includes an analyses of the vocational education and training /VET/, is organized by the Ministry of Education and Science in collaboration with the UNWE. For the first time, data for Bulgaria are also included in the study.
The event is organized in the course of Bulgaria's accession as a ful member state of OECD.
The Minister of Education Prof. Dr. Galin Tsokov opened the event in the presence of Simon Normandeau, OECD Education Analyst who presented the OECD Indicators Programme. The UNWE was represented by Prof. Dr. Matilda Alexandrova, Vice Rector for Educational Activities. The event was also attended by the Deputy Ministers of the Ministry of Education Prof. Genka Petrova, Mariet Georgieva and Natalia Miteva, representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, representatives of Embassies, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Atanasov, Chairman of the National Statistical Institute and the Chairman of the Association of Economic Schools in Bulgaria Prof. Dr. Daniela Feschiyan, members of the Board of Governors and Heads of the National Agency for Vocational Education and Training, the Bulgarian Industrial Association, the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa and Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, members of the Advisory Council for Vocational Education and Training, lecturers from the academic circles of UNWE, students and guests.
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| At the official presidium were Prof. Galin Tsokov, Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Dr. Matilda Alexandrova, Vice Rector for Educational Activities of UNWE, Simon Normandeau from the OECD, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Atanasov, President of NSI and Vanya Tividosheva, Director of Vocational Education and Training at the Ministry of Education and Science |
The report on the Education Policy Outlook is a product of a long-standing collaborative efforts between the governments of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development in Europe /OECD/, the experts and institutions working within the OECD Indicators of Education Systems /INES/ programme and the OECD Secretariat.
"This national event is extremely important not only for the vocational education and training, but for the entire Bulgarian educational system. It shows what is the importance for Bulgaria to join the OECD - to be in the same group as the developed countries in the world. The report presents the development, status and opportunities for the future improvement of modern educational systems. When we become a full member of the OECD, we will be able to participate in different programmes and to develop education, implement certain policies according to the data and analyses", said Minister Tsokov opening the event and he thoroughly explaining the different groups of indicators that are covered in the study.
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In his welcoming speech Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Atanasov, Chairman of the NSI and a longstanding lecturer at the UNWE, emphasized on the fact that one of the main priorities of the government is precisely the membership in the OECD. "In order to become a member, we have to pass a long road. One part of this road is precisely related to providing data that are comparable with other member states and guarantee that these data are of sufficiently high quality to allow comparisons and policy analysis. The NSI is committed to report to what extent Bulgaria is ready to join the Organization in terms of providing quality data", said Assoc. Prof. Atanasov pointing out that the NSI complies with all the European requirements regarding data from the National Statistics. "The foundation of modern society is the education, there is no developed society without good education. The most effective policies are in the field of education, with a long-term effect, so we must invest in education today to ensure our success tomorrow. The education is important because it influences all other areas. For example, on the employment rate, the more educated people there are, the lower the unemployment, there are fewer poor people and less crime", added Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Atanasov.
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On behalf of the Rector of the UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov the Vice Rector for Educational Activities Prof. Dr. Matilda Alexandrova greeted the participants in "this key event for the development of professional education in Bulgaria". She explained that the modernization of the vocational education and training in Bulgaria is embedded in a number of key national documents.
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"We, as representatives of higher education, especially appreciate the place occupied by the secondary vocational education in the educational system of the country! We have no doubt that the key role is played by the pedagogical specialist who is competent, dialogical, open to innovation! We can undoubtedly state that investment in human capital development is an indispensable prerequisite for the success and achievement of the strategic goals in the education system!", said Prof. Alexandrova.
Simon Normandeau, OECD Education Analyst, presented the results and conclusions of the OECD report on the Education Policy Outlook 2023: OECD Indicators: VET Challenges: Bulgaria in Comparative Perspective.
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He emphasized on the vocational education and training /VET/ covering also other parts of the educational system.
Some data show interesting trends for Bulgarian education: in Bulgaria the percentage of young people between 18 and 24 years old who do not study or work is 16.9% while the average percentage for the OECD countries is 14.7%.
There is also a rather significant difference in terms of state funding of education. Bulgaria spends 6983 USD per year per full-time student /adjusted for purchasing power/, compared to the OECD average of 12 647 USD.
The other big difference between Bulgaria and other countries is in terms of the feminization of the teaching profession. In Bulgaria men are only 18% and the teachers over 50 are 50% while in the other OECD countries they are 31%.
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Simon Normandeau emphasized on the necessity to strengthen the work-based learning /dual training/ and the specificities of its implementation in different countries.
A discussion was held with the active participation of UNWE lecturers.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alexander Naydenov, Head of the Statistics and Econometrics Department, suggested the establishment of a partnership between the different institutions in order to unify the specific terminology when translating on Bulgarian as well as for the exchange of information regarding the processing of statistical data, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Tosheva, Vice Dean for Research of the Applied Informatics and Statistics Faculty, appealed for regular statistical studies that take into account the specificities of education at local level. She expressed her admiration for the report and the fact that the modernization in education will be based on strong statistical analyses and numerical indicators.
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development /OECD/ was established in 1961 to promote policies for sustainable economic development, raise living standards and maintain financial stability. It is the successor to the Organization for European Economic Co-Operation, established to manage the US and Canadian financial aid /the so-called Marshall Plan/ for the restoration of Europe after the World War II.
Today, the OECD is an established international organization that takes a leading role in the development and implementation of the highest standards in all key areas such as governance, tax policy, transport infrastructure, agriculture, education, digital economy and innovation, climate, etc. The OECD has 38 member countries, including the most advanced economies in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. Along with Bulgaria, other applicants for OECD membership are Romania, Croatia, Brazil, Argentina and Peru.
In order to prepare Bulgaria for the start of negotiations for membership in the OECD by the Council of Ministers Decision No. 789 of 20 February 2017, amended and supplemented by the Council of Ministers Decision No. 444/11.06.2021, a special permanent Inter-Ministerial Coordination Mechanism /IMC/ for Bulgaria's accession to the OECD was established. The IMC is chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and includes representatives of the Ministries and Departments involved in the cooperation with the OECD.
The measures for the preparation of our country are included in the three-year Roadmaps containing concrete actions on the accession to the OECD. The Roadmap for the period 2021-2023 incorporates the Action Plan developed in cooperation with the OECD Secretariat in 2019 - a structured working document outlining the main measures in 21 areas necessary to achieve the OECD standards and meet the criteria for membership of the Organization in accordance with the requirements in the Framework for the Assessment of Potential OECD Members.
Over the last years, in accordance with the Action Plan and the three-year National Roadmap, Bulgaria has joined a number of OECD legal instruments and has intensified its participation in an increasing number of OECD committees and working groups, with the efforts of our country aimed to maintain an active position and bring additional value to their work. Currently, Bulgaria participates with the status of member / associate member in the activities of 13 working bodies, in 6 other bodies it has the status of participant and in 19 others it is a guest / observer.
Our country has joined 32 legal instruments and has requested accession to 6 more. Out of the legal instruments, Bulgaria has joined 6 of the 8 OECD Standards, the accession to which is considered as a mandatory condition in the Framework for Assessment of Potential Member Countries:
- Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions;
- Recommendation of the Council on Principles of Corporate Governance
- Recommendation of the Coucil on Principles of Establishing an Internet Policy;
- Recommendation of the Council on Good Statistical Practice;
- OECD Inclusive Framework on BEPS Project Measures /Base Erosion and Profit Shifting/ and
- OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
Currently, the procedure for our accession to the other two OECD Standards is ongoing - the OECD Codes on the Liberalisation of Capital Movements and on Current Invisible Transactions and the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Companies.
In recent years significant achievements on the road to the OECD membership include the successful completion of the process of Bulgaria's accession to the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency /NEA/ and its Data Bank /on 1 January 2021 Bulgaria became the 34th NEA member country/ and the presentation on 29 January 2021 of the Economic Survey for Bulgaria prepared by the OECD for the first time since 1999, etc.
