Today, the Dual Vocational Education and Training system, inspired by the Swiss model, is starting in Bulgaria in two vocational schools: the Vocational School for Food Processing Technologies “Prof. Georgi Pavlov” in Sofia and the Vocational School “Ivan Hadzhienov” in Kazanlak (Southern Bulgaria).
The Swiss State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation Mauro Dell’Ambrogio arrives to Bulgaria especially for the Dual Education Project. Mr. Dell’Ambrogio and Minister of Education and Science Prof. Todor Tanev attended the official ceremony of the first school day in the Vocational School “Prof. Georgi Pavlov” in Sofia.
The students in two classes – 9th and 10th –in the Vocational School “Prof. Georgi Pavlov” will be trained to become engineers for the processing of milk and the production of dairy products. The school in Kazanlak will train the students in the 9th and 11th grades in maintaining and operating machines and CNC systems. Both schools have been selected based on several criteria such as the good partnership with the relevant business, their specialization in education and the location in areas with e certain demand on a qualified labour.
Gradually, the hours in a real work environment will grow and in the 11th and 12th grade the students will spend two days a week at school, while in the other three days they will be working in factories and companies which are part of the dual educational system. The students will sign a special labor contract with the companies and receive remuneration for their work according to the Labour Code.
Dual education is introduced in Bulgaria within the project DOMINO financed by Switzerland under the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme. The project has a total budget of CHF 3`530`000, including 15% co-funding from the Ministry of Education and Science. The project will be implemented until 2019. Over these five years, the project will involve 1 200 students in 15 vocational schools, as well as ten occupations. New educational programmes will be developed, while teachers, mentors and experts on dual education will be trained. Dual Education in Bulgaria will be introduced using the Swiss experience, as the dual education is one of the key factors for the economic success and competitiveness of the country.
The involvement of the different stakeholders for the introduction of the dual system in Bulgaria – state institutions, private companies, branches and business organizations, local authorities and the NGO sector – will be coordinated by a specially organized Forum on Dual Vocational Education and Training. Its first session on 16 September 2015 will be officially opened by Swiss State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation Mauro Dell’Ambrogio and Minister of Education and Science Prof. Todor Tanev.
