On 2 November, the eighth and final session of the Forum on Dual Education will discuss the sustainability of dual vocational education in Bulgaria.
President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard, who will be on an official visit in Bulgaria, Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev and Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev will take part in the final discussions.
The Forum is actively working since 2015 within the DOMINO Project for the introduction of dual education in Bulgaria, which is implemented with the financial support of the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme.
Organized jointly by the project team and the Bulgarian-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, the Forum coordinates the efforts of various stakeholders for the introduction of the dual-track education system in Bulgaria. Nearly 100 experts – representatives of ministries, branch association and chambers, municipalities and vocational schools, professional organisations and trade unions, as well as NGOs – take part in its sessions. By consensus the Forum reached an agreement upon several important topics: professions appropriate for dual education, labour contracts for students, updated curricula and syllabi, criteria for selection of companies and control over quality of the training. Furthermore, the Forum elaborated concrete proposals for legislative changes, which will regulatе the core elements of the introduction of dual education and training.
Dual education under the Swiss model (learning by working) is spread across the country: Sofia, Pleven, Ruse, Dobrich, Burgas, Yambol, Sliven, Kazanlak, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Pernik, Kyustendil, Sevlievo, Zlatitsa, Varna, Sandanski, Troyan, Radomir and Panagyurishte. Starting in 2015 with 81 students, two vocational schools and two professions, DOMIMO education is currently expanded to over 800 students in 32 vocational schools, eight professions, as well as 170 leading Bulgarian and foreign companies are partners of the project. In May 2017, the first 20 DOMINO students graduated from the Vocational School “Ivan Hadzhienov” in Kazanlak (south Bulgaria) and most of them are having now permanent job in the companies where they had had their apprenticeships.
About the DOMINO Project:
With a total budget of 3,5 million Swiss francs, DOMINO, Dual education for the modern requirements and needs of society supports the reforms in the system of the professional education. Since 2015 it is introducing the modern dual-track training based of the Bulgarian traditions and the experience of Switzerland, the country with the world’s recognized system of the dual training and the lowest youth unemployment rates. Gradually, the hours in a real work environment will grow and at the end of their education the students will spend two days a week at school, while in the other three days they will be working and paid in companies which are part of the dual educational system.