The Academy for Innovation and Development of Higher Education Organized a Meeting at the UNWE with Representatives of Higher Education Institutions in Bulgaria and Student Councils

A discussion on the Higher Education in Bulgaria organized by the Academy for Innovation and Development /AID/  with representatives of higher education institutions and their student councils was held at the UNWE.

Acad Prof. Dr. Ivan Velichkov, Chairman of the Academy for Innovation and Development, expressed his gratitude to the Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov for hosting the event and set the framework for the discussion by emphasising on its objective: "Bulgaria's ambition is to become a strong attraction center of higher education with a European attractive profile for students from Europe and the world. It is necessary to strengthen the relation with the innovations and science as well as with the labour market", said Acad. Velichkov and added: "It is a great pride and joy that the UNWE has the highest institutional accreditation among Bulgarian universities, i.e. it is the higher education institution that offers the highest quality of higher education for which we should congratulate it".

The Secretary of the UNWE Student Council Kaloyan Stefanov welcomed the participants in the Conference: “Such high-level forums help to develop the scientific potential of colleagues and to find the right ways for the higher education development in our country'. He also greeted them on behalf of the National Representation of Student Councils.

The Vice Dean in Academic Affairs of the General Economics Faculty Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nikolaiy Velichkov who is also Deputy Head of the UNWE Economics Department outlined that the initiative is "beneficial for the whole society and specifically for science and education. It raises extremely important issues that should be discussed in order to find the right way to solve them".

The Conference was opened with the song "Bulgarians" performed by Maria Velkova and Yanko Lozanov recited "Alphabet Prayer" by Konstantin Preslavsky.

Acad Prof. Dr. Ivan Velichkov made a review of the higher education development in Bulgaria, focusing on the three initial aspects: the fact that Bulgaria is one of the oldest eight European countries with over 13 centuries of history with contributions to humanity which has not changed its name and traditions; the fact that higher education in Bulgaria has over 150 years of development and that education is currently compatible with European. He highly appreciated the rating system of higher education institutions in Bulgaria which covers 48 indicators and indeed ranks 52 higher education institutions in Bulgaria on the quality of education offered by them.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nikolay Velichkov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivan Velichkov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Boryana Trifonova and Kaloyan Stefanov

The President of the Academy for Innovation and Development /AID/ explained the objective for establishing the Academy which is currently 10 years old, namely, to make professional contact with higher education institutions, the Ministry of Education and Science and other state institutions in order to improve the higher education. For achieving the objective over the years numerous agreements for exchange of scientific achievements with higher education institutions not only in Bulgaria but also worldwide have been concluded; seminars, forums, and conferences have been organized, and strategies, programmes, projects, and competitions have been developed. "The objective of today's meeting is also to announce the competition for creative publications on the Higher Education Development in Bulgaria - Analyses, Proposals, Solutions by the universities and student councils which will be published in the IV Anniversary Collection of AID", said the President of the Academy.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Boryana Trifonova, Secretary of AID, outlined that the deadline for submission of the texts is 24 May 2024 and the nominated materials will be published in the Collection in July.

The discussion lasted several hours and the following problems of higher education were revewed: the large proportion of young people who neither study nor work /15.1%/, the necessary changes in the model of education, methods to improve the quality of education, the introduction of artificial intelligence and other important topics concernibg the education.

The government's proposal to abolish fees for students in state educational order at state universities was also discussed.