Bulgaria receives CHF 3.5 million to implement a pilot project for introduction of the principles of dual education

Bulgaria signed an Agreement on implementation of  pilot project Swiss Support for the Introduction of the Dual-Track Principles in Bulgaria Vocational  Education System, worth a total of CHF 3.5 million. The agreement was signed within the Education and Science Council to the President by Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister Ivailo Kalfin, Minister of Economy Bozhidar Loukarsky, Minister of Education Todor Tanev, and Ambassador of Switzerland to Bulgaria Denis Knobel. The signing ceremony was also attended by President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Rumiana Bachvarova.

The main objective of the project is to create a working model and build the capacity necessary for the introduction of dual education in Bulgaria using Swiss experience in the field of vocational training. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, and the Ministry of Economy. The main Swiss partner is the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training and the Bulgarian-Swiss Chamber of Commerce.

The project will be implemented over a period of four years. The dual education will be piloted during the 2015/2016 school year. The main goal of project activities is to implement a full education cycle for several professions with the participation of companies from the sector and a new approach in the development of respective vocational programs to be put into practice. Each subsequent year new professions and vocational schools will be incorporated under the project.