Sofia Municipality warns of nursery crisis due to nurse shortage

The Sofia Municipality has issued an urgent appeal to the Bulgarian government for legislative reforms to address a critical shortage of nurses in nursery groups. Currently, 78 nursery groups in the capital are at risk of closure, which could leave 1,716 children without childcare.

Out of the 520 nurses required by law for Sofia's 260 nursery groups, only 364 are currently employed. The shortage is compounded by an aging workforce; over 52% of the nurses working in kindergartens are over the age of 62, while only 35 are under the age of 35.

The municipality proposes a multidisciplinary care model where childcare for children under three would be managed by a team of educators and early childhood development specialists. In this model, nurses would focus exclusively on medical observation and prevention. This proposal has received support from the Bulgarian Medical Union, the Sofia Medical College, and the Bulgarian Pediatric Association.