UNWE Initiated the Establishment of the Association of Language Schools in Bulgaria

The Constitutional Assembly of the Association of Language Schools in Bulgaria was held at the UNWE.

The Association is established on the initiative and under the patronage of the Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Antonia Pencheva, Head of the Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics Department, Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov, Prof. Dr. Matilda Alexandrova-Boshnakova, Vice Rector for Educational Activities, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vasil Petkov, Head of the International Economic Relations and Business Department, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetla Boneva, Secretary General for Research Projects /from the right to the left/

The founders of the Association are seven language schools - First English Language School, Sofia / Thomas Jefferson Second English Language School, Sofia / 203. St. Methodius Language School, Sofia / 22. Georgy S. Rakovsky High Language School, Sofia / 133. A. S. Pushkin High School, Sofia / 18. William Gladstone High School, Sofia / 18. Dr. Petar Beron High Language School, Kyustendil. UNWE is represented by two lecturers - Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vasil Petkov, Head of the International Economic Relations and Business Department and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Antonia Pencheva, Head of the Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics Department.

The founders of the Association of Language Schools in Bulgaria

The Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov welcomed the participants in the event and outlined that the UNWE is a business university with a rich portfolio of specialties in all areas of socio-economic life and it is one of the prerequisites for successful cooperation with the language schools.

As benefits for the future activities of the Association he pointed out that UNWE is part of the elite university network ENGAGE.EU in partnership with 8 leading European universities in the field of economics and social sciences. In the frameworks of ENGAGE.EU there are many opportunities for collaboration with the secondary schools and the young people get the privilege to learn in communities and improve their language skills.

The Rector pointed out that the UNWE offers six Bachelor's degree programmes taught in English and incorporates new competitive study programmes such as Cybersecurity and e-Government, Computer Processing and Data Analysis and Pedagogy where the foreign language skills are also essential. A new speciality in Applied Linguistics is also to be launched.

Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov paid attention to the fact that the UNWE and the language schools could successfully partner in organizing joint competitions in foreign languages giving the example of the successful cooperation with the Association of Economic Schools in Bulgaria /AESB/ in this respect.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vasil Petkov, Head of the International Economic Relations and Business Department presented the history and mission of UNWE since its establishment in 1920 and outlined that the University offers 47 Bachelor`s degree programmes and 88 Master`s degree programmes, it has eight Faculties - General Economics, Finance and Accounting, Management and Administration, Economics of Infrastructure, International Economics and Politics, Applied Informatics and Statistics, Business Faculty and Law Faculty and it has nearly 500 lecturers. The close relation between the education and the business is the reason for the very good realization of the UNWE graduates. Over 97% of them are find realization at the labour market by the first year of their graduation. He pointed out that 10 Prime Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria and over 150 ministers are graduates of the University.

The Vice Rector for Educational Activities Prof. Dr. Matilda Alexandrova-Boshnakova said that the policy of UNWE is based on the integration of secondary schools, the university and partners from business and practice. She added that the graduates of language schools are among the best prepared and most motivated and in the specialties taught in English a large part of the students are graduates of these schools. "The partnership between the UNWE and the language schools is already a reality but we want to institutionalize it and we will support you in all initiatives because we believe that this smooth transition from the language school to the university is important", said Prof. Dr. Matilda Alexandrova-Boshnakova.

"More than 90% of the students who come to study at our Faculty are actually from the language schools and their level of preparation is extremely high. I think that this cooperation has actually been available in not so visible way namely through your pupils who become our students", said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elena Simeonova, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs of the International Economics and Politics Faculty and Secretary General for Accreditation of the UNWE.

Assoc. Prof. Elena Simeonova and Gergana Kirilova, Director of the Rector's Office /from the right to the left/

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Antonia Pencheva, Head of the Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics Department, emphasized that two foreign languages are taught at the UNWE. The first foreign language is the one with which the prospective students enter, they have studied it and have a command in it at a good enough level. "The fact that your graduates come from the language high schools and have a very high level of proficiency in the first foreign language does not mean that they will waste their time at the UNWE and will not acquire new knowledge because the language training at our university is specialized and tailored to the specialty and professional field".

The UNWE presented data indicating that during the last academic year out of approximately 5500 prospective students, over 1300 of them were from the language schools across the country, which is about 20% of all prospective students and 777 of them enrolled to study at the University. Half of these students have chosen specialities that involve studying or teaching a foreign language, the rest have enrolled in other specialities.

The representatives of the language schools expressed thankfulness to the UNWE for the initiative and shared that for them the Association will be a step towards deepening the relation between the secondary and higher education as well as an opportunity for cooperation in terms of career guidance of the graduates.

The Association is established to facilitate well-coordinated joint activities between the language schools on the one hand and the language schools and the UNWE on the other, to facilitate participation in projects aimed at modernizing the school environment and improving the quality of the educational process. The organization of round tables, discussions, seminars, etc. to jointly discuss the issues of the relation between the secondary and the higher education in Bulgaria, the conduction of language competitions, open lectures, visits for the benefit of the pupils of language schools in Bulgaria are also within the scope of cooperation.

The participants signed the Protocol of Establishment and adopted the Constitution of the Association.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vasil Petkov, Head of the International Economic Relations and Business Department, was elected as Chairman of the Association.

The event was also attended by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosen Kirilov, Vice Rector for Digitalization and Cybersecurity of UNWE, Gergana Kirilova, Director of the Rector's Office, Prof. Dr. Yanka Totseva, Acting Head of the Pedagogy Department, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Monika Moraliyska-Ivanova, Deputy Head of the International Economic Relations and Business Department, Sen. Lect. Dr. Albena Stefanova from the Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics Department.

Language schools from Burgas, Haskovo, Pravets and Montana also expressed their wish to join the Association once it is registered in the Registry Agency.