The “SOS – Save the Education Now!” campaign is finishing, so it can give its place to the new Law for Higher Education

25/03/10

The “SOS – Save the Education Now!” campaign started as a youth project supporting the reform in higher education. It started on the 8th of December 2009 with the initiative “Plan a flexible future for yourself”, having the target of provoking the thought of the young people, which are in the base of education, how it can be changed – in their favor.

In the end of December and the beginning of January a blog and Facebook group of the campaign was created, so its main ideas could reach the greatest possible number of people. Currently there are more then 12 000 people, which regularly comment and share their ideas regarding the reform. The blog of the campaign has been visited over 5 000 times. Logically, this was followed by the filming of clips of the campaign, in which participated youths, supporters of the reform in higher education. The team which created the three clips, completely in the spirit of the campaign, also consisted entirely of young people – university students and fresh graduates from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts. “I want to study in Bulgaria”; “I want no corruption” and “I want not just a diploma, but real knowledge” – the main messages of the campaign were cycled on all social networks, channels for the sharing of clips and the three main media partners of the campaign – Nova Television, Darik Radio and the Standart Newspaper.

The official start of the campaign was given on the 21st of February 2010 with a press conference in the Bulgarian News Agency, in which participated the organisers, the minister of education and the three main media partners. Right on the next day the mobile teams of “SOS – Save the Education Now!” headed towards the four corners of Bulgaria, to popularise the 12 supporting points of the campaign, which the idea for reform revolves upon. The teams participated in two international forums for higher education, during which they presented their ideas for change in the current existing educational system. In the continuation of a whole month there were over 2000 suggestions gathered in the special SOS books, which after the summery with the suggestions, which have come online, will be handed over personally to the minister, so they can mold into the project for the new Law for Higher Education.

The youth campaign “SOS – Save the Education Now!” will be officially closed on Monday the 29th of March at 13:30 in the building of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science. It will be attended by the organisers of the campaign, their media partners and the Minister of Education, Youth and Science – Mr. Ignatov, who will receive the summarized suggestions of everyone, who has participated in the campaign – students, university students, lecturers, parents and caring for education citizens.

MGERB took part in a seminar of the European Youth Forum

16/03/10

The European Youth Forum had a seminar in the city of Hissar, Bulgaria from the 11th of March to the 14th of March. The target of the seminar was to introduce the good practices of the structures and the creation of National Youth Councils, which currently Bulgaria and Poland don’t have and are the only countries members of the European Union who haven’t created them yet.
Representatives of the European Youth Forum from Croatia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Serbia presented the organisations in their countries and shared their experience regarding the process of the creation. There were over 40 representatives of international, national and regional non-government organisations from Bulgaria, as well as representatives of the major youth political parties. Guests of the forum were Xenia Constantinou – Vice President of the Bureau of the European Youth Forum and Hamlet Ohanyan – Member of the Bureau of the European Youth Forum.

The representative of MGERB Joanna Dochevska – Regional Coordinator of MGERB Sofia, presented the ideas for a horizontal structure of the platform for a youth representation, which will work in specialized commissions in regarding fields and express the voice of the young people of Bulgaria regarding issues important for them. The creation of a youth council will help for a more effective communication between the young people in Bulgaria and the institutions and will further rouse their civil initiative.

On the 15rh of March 2010 after the official end of the seminar, the representatives of the European Youth Forum met with Petya Evtimova – Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Science regarding questions concerning youth, Monika Panayotova – Chairwoman of MGERB and Member of Parliament in the 41st National Assembly and other young members of parliament. They expressed their satisfaction from the energy and will of the young people in Bulgaria for the creation of a National Youth Council, as well as the readiness to help in the process for its creation, structural formation and beginning of function.

A mobile SOS team took part in a meeting of university students from the International University Collage - Dobrich and later participated in the International Day of the collage

13/03/10

Under the invitation of the student’s council of the International University Collage, a SOS team took part in the International Day of the collage. On Friday the youths made a presentation on the proposed suggestions and discussed them with the university students. A very pleasant surprise turned out to be the fact that in the private collage (with about 1000 students, 100 of which foreign) the greater majority of suggestions for reforms in the SOS campaign had been already adopted and were working. The grading system has been widened and the overall performance of the students is taken under attention, rather then only the exams and quizzes.
The lecturing collective works only in the International University Collage and reads lections only in foreign universities. The students travel to gather work experience in foreign countries 1-2 times and it is mandatory to gather work experience in their own fields, as well. The labour givers in the field are well familiarised with the qualities of education in the university and there is almost no university student from the facility who does not realize himself in his field. A statistic followed by the university. Only in very few universities the students are concerned for the future of the educational facility. Here the learners were visibly worried about the suggestion for merge and expressed hope that this process will start with good criteria, not only quantity.

After the presentation the SOS team met with the foreign students, who had presented their home countries and native cities. In the dialogue with the foreigners it was apparent that they are satisfied with what they get from the International University Collage.

On Saturday there was a meeting with the rector of the collage – Associate Professor Dr. Todor Radev, who expressed an opinion, that the stand still and the lack of competition are baneful for higher education and that it is high time for the stoppage of the creation of jobless MA graduates.  He expressed his support for the campaign and even gave a couple of suggestions on how to realize the voucher system and student mobility.

The SOS team was more then impressed with the visit in Dobrich, and saw with their own eyes how a small collage, can achieve great results and even reach the 250th spot in the world classification of business schools.

The final stage of the travels of the “SOS – Save the Education Now!” teams has come to an end

13/03/10

During the past two weeks the four mobile teams of “SOS – Save the Education Now” have passed through the last remaining cities of Bulgaria. They were in Stara Zagora and Ruse on the 5th of March; Vidin, Vratza, Haskovo and Razgrad on the 6th of March; Montana, Kustendil and Kardzhali on the 7th of March and in Pernik, Smolyan and Dobrich on the 13th of March.

As well as the past week, the tents of the initiative supporting the reform in higher education were well visited. Every single day, they had over 300-400 visiting people, despite the bad weather, which had been following the young people throughout the whole country. The people were in a constant crowd and the notebooks for ideas and suggestions regarding higher education were gradually filling up. The people who left a video message regarding the reform in higher education or just expressing their support were also not few. The young people shared their non-satisfaction from the quality of education, as well as the conditions in which they are taught at the moment, they gave ideas on how achieve improvements. There was no lack of older people, who also took part in the campaign. They supported the will and initiative of the young to take the future in their own hands and shared their own experience from many years ago. In all of the cities in which the campaign took hold the outcome is clear – the reform in higher education is supported by everyone and it is of exceptional necessity to be achieved as fast as possible.

Guests on the spots in the different cities were local members of parliament, mayors and regional governors, who had also come to express their support. There was no lack of media interest – reports and interviews with the faces of the campaign were constantly broadcasted and published on Nova Television, Darik Radio and the Standart Newspaper, which are media partners of the campaign, as well as various local media.

In this way, in the continuation of one month the youth – organisers of the campaign “SOS – Save the Education Now!” passed through all of the regional cities and higher education centers in Bulgaria. They heard the opinion of over 10 000 people and collected the suggestions of several thousand people.
In the moment all of the ideas, which have been collected are being looked at and finalized and will be later given in a special conference directly to Mr. Ignatov – Minister of Education, Youth and Science.

Monika Panayotova continues the regular meetings with citizens from Sofia’s 24th election region

10/03/10

On the 9th of March, Monika Panayotova met with citizens from Oborishte, which is part of the 24th election region in Sofia, from where she was nominated for a majoritarian candidate during the parliamentary elections in 2009 and elected for a national representative in the 41st National Assembly.

The meeting was organised by Mrs. Mita Georgieva – Coordinator of the Oborishte region and Municipal Councillor from the group of GERB in Sofia’s Municipal Council. This is a continuation to the consecutive meetings with citizens, which Monika Panayotova, as a Member of Parliament, began to conduct in the beginning of the year.

The meeting began with the introduction of Miss Panayotova and her participation in the activity of the National Assembly. There was a highlight on the Foreign Policy and Defence Committee, which she is a member of and the recently accepted Law for Defence and Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria.  Later there were questions regarding the topics being discussed at the moment in plenary hall, and pose a great interest to many people, the Law for Genetically Modified Organisms and the Law for Internet Messages.

Miss Panayotova did not miss to mention the main messages in her election campaign, precisely “Let’s prove, that Bulgaria can work with and for the young” and “Real reform in education”. In order to support the promises with actions she told in short about the campaign, which is conducted at the moment by the initiative of MGERB, the national campaign “SOS – Save the Education Now!” which supports the upcoming reform in higher education and is conducted mutually with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science. She gave this campaign as a precise good example for how reforms should be made in Bulgaria, so they can have a quick perception in the people. In this way, participating directly with opinions and suggestions the citizens really participate in the process of the reform and feel the problems closer.

Other topics, which arose were the reform going in the moment in health care, as well as the scandal between the President Georgi Parvanov and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov.

The most interesting topic for the gathered citizens, two thirds of which were young people, was the policy of the political party of GERB regarding young people and the activities of MGERB. Here Monika Panayotova mentioned about the now traditional Political Academy of MGERB, the conducted Winter University and two Summer Universities of MGERB, as well as the possibility for young people to gather working experience in the European Parliament, which the MEP’s from GERB offer at the moment.

At the end of the meeting Miss Panayotova promised to visit the Oborishte region again soon, and the youth organisation of GERB was joined by more new members.

Directions for reforms in higher education were also given by universities participating in the XIII International Educational Forum

06/03/10

On the 5th of March the mobile team of “SOS – Save the Education Now!” visited the represented universities, collages and educational institutions at the XII International Educational Forum, which took hold in the National Palace of Culture. The initiators of the campaign presented before them, their ideas for reforms in higher education, which they collect through their travels across the country, as well as the ideas of over 11,500 followers of the campaign on Facebook.

The young visitors, which had come to choose their future educational facility, received informational materials for the campaign and gave their ideas for a reform in higher education with great desire. The parents on the other side, expressed their suggestions on how the children should gather practical knowledge, rather then dry theory. They also gave suggestions on what should be done, so that the children can have good realization in life after leaving the higher educational facilities.

The connection with international universities was of great interest, where the priorities of “SOS – Save the Education Now!” have been a long year practice and give excellent results.

Until the end of the campaign we will be expecting the other visits of the “SOS – Save the Education Now!” mobile teams, as well as the gathering and the finalization of the given ideas and suggestions.

We thank everyone, who supports us and gives their ideas for change, which we have the opportunity to achieve together.

“SOS – Save the Education Now!” passed through 13 Bulgarian cities

04/03/10

During the past week the youth campaign supporting the reform in higher education “SOS – Save the Education Now!” passed through the greater part of the regional cities of Bulgaria. Sofia, Plovdiv, Blagoevgrad, Varna, Burgas, Veliko Turnovo, Shumen, Yambol, Pleven, Gabrovo, Targovishte, Sliven and Pazardjik are the cities, in which the campaign already passed successfully.

In the middle of the month of February 30 youths from all over Bulgaria formed four mobile groups, with which they traveled through the biggest cities of Bulgaria as well as almost all of the university student centers. Their target was to familiarise the citizens with the “SOS – Save the Education Now!” campaign, which is conducted jointly with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science and supports the reform in higher education. In each of the cities the young people were greeted by over 20 other youths, with whom they stretched the “SOS – Save the Education Now!” tents and in the continuation of hours explained the ideas and targets of the campaign and collected the opinion of the people about Bulgarian higher education. In an adjusted video corner and in a special designed notebook for this target every citizen could leave their message, idea, suggestion or critic towards Mr. Ignatov – Minister of Education, Youth and Science or the education system as a whole.

The people did not save ink and soon the notebooks gradually filled up. They filled up with congrats for the great initiative to ideas how should the modern Bulgarian higher education look, what should be the criteria for the lecturers, what should be in the basis of the program of the different universities, what should be changed in Bulgarian higher education facilities and how should this be accomplished. There was no lack of comments made by young people. A great number of them shared experience, which they have acquired in student exchange programs, such as the “Erasmus Program” and “CEEPUS” or during their education in foreign universities. Surprisingly, there was no lack of comments from older citizens, as well. The grandmothers and grandfathers concerned for the education of their grandchildren wrote idea after idea and suggestion after suggestion in the notebooks. Many of them recorded video messages towards Minister Ignatov and all of them united in the standpoint that young people deserve a fitting future (and education) in their country. The comments of lecturers were also present they expressed their support for the campaign and congratulated the young people for their engagement in the education problem. All of the opinions collected during the campaign will be handed to Minister Ignatov, so they can be taken under consideration in the development of the new law for higher education.

In the different cities the campaign passed with different interest, but as a whole the mobile teams managed to speak with 200 to 300 people each day. The total number of people, which the “SOS campaign” reached personally, is over several thousand and through the wonderful media coverage by the media partners of the campaign Darik Radio, Nova Television and Standart Newspaper, as well as the various local media, the efficiency was raised even more.

The next stops of the mobile teams are: Stara Zagora and Rousse (on the 5th of March); Vidin, Vratza, Haskovo and Razgrad (on the 6th of March); Montana, Kustendil and Kurdjali (on the 7th of March); Pernik, Smolyan, Dobrich (on the 13th of March).

The campaign will end with an official press conference in Sofia, which will be attended not only by the organisers and the media partners, but also by Mr. Ignatov – Minister of Education, Youth and Science.

Ministers and members of parliament from GERB discussed the reform in higher education in Pernik

25/02/10

The school carnival Fasching 2010 was held on the 25th of February in Pernik, under the patronage of Mr. Ignatov – Minister of Education, Youth and Science and Irena Sokolova – Member of Parliament from GERB. It was attended by Simeon Djankov – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, as well as members of parliament from GERB – Monika Panayotova, Dobroslav Dimitrov, Svetlen Tanchev, Lyuben Tatarski and Stoyan Mavrodiev.

One hour earlier Minister Ignatov held a special press conference about the problems in higher education. During which he highlighted, that the Bulgarian education needs to become competitive to the European and that our legislation needs to be synchronized with that of Europe. He gave the recently started campaign of MGERB – “SOS – Save the Education Now!” as a good example in this direction. One of the ways to achieve the reform in education is the participation of society and especially the young people in the creation of a modern and effective legislation. In this connection during the campaign in the different cities of the country, there will be an accepting of proposals for changes in legislation, which will be taken under consideration in the forging of the new law for higher education.

Monika Panayotova – Chairwoman of MGERB and one of the youngest members of parliament explained in short the ideas of the campaign, highlighting the three main accents: We want to study in Bulgaria; We don’t want just diplomas, we want real knowledge and We don’t want corruption in education. She also shared that the mobile teams of the campaign will be in Pernik on the 13th of March. That is when all citizens from Pernik who want can contribute to the forging of the new law, through their ideas and suggestions in connection with the reform in higher education.