Higher Education in Republic of Bulgaria - Critical Analysis and Common Guidelines for Change

Abstract

This article aims at identifying major problems of Bulgarian state higher education. It provides critical analysis of government education policy and evaluation of current state of higher education institutions in Republic of Bulgaria. Analysis starts from the viewpoint that each market oriented educational system must always set at least two primary objectives: 1/Providing high quality of students’ training and 2/Meeting the demands of business without “overproduction” of students.

The review of the problem points out two key prerequisites for effective higher state education provision, namely: 1/Funding of universities should be based on quality, not quantity. Universities must be given rights to work out their own systems for objective assessment of students’ knowledge. This will prompt competition among students and will lead to a higher quality of education. New characteristics of educational programs have to take place to encourage knowledge building – giving priority to practical training and development of professional and personal skills, instead of memorizing theoretical facts and thus being awarded a diploma without any conscious efforts. 2/Huge amount of the government quota in higher education has to be cut down or, at least, become an object of stringent control and planning. The common guidelines for change offered by this article can be enforced according to the current objective possibilities of Bulgarian educational system.

Keywords: higher education, knowledge management, business, Bulgaria