Education Syndicate opposes Bulgarian school funding reforms

The Education Syndicate, part of the Podkrepa trade union, has voiced opposition to proposed changes in the Bulgarian school funding model. The Ministry of Education and Science intends to develop a new system within approximately one year to replace the current ‘money follows the student’ principle.

Union leaders argue that the current delegated budget system, established following the 2007 teacher strikes, provides school directors with necessary financial autonomy. They note that the current model is already more complex than the ‘money follows the student’ slogan suggests, as it accounts for the number of classes and physical infrastructure in addition to student enrollment.

Dr. Yulian Petrov, chairman of Podkrepa, warned against linking funding to student academic results, suggesting it could lead to grade inflation and disadvantage schools serving vulnerable groups or children with special educational needs. Instead, the syndicate proposes adding the number of teachers as a formal component of the funding formula to ensure stable salaries and support for smaller schools without reducing the budgets of other institutions.