587 students in 28 specialties from 10 schools in Ruse and the district are in a dual form of education

587 students in 28 specialties from 10 schools in Ruse are currently in a dual form of education. This became clear from the regional meeting held today in the Regional Administration in the city, led by Regional Governor Danail Kovachev. He expressed his support for dual education and was adamant that it provides very good opportunities for the realization of young people. “Training in a real working environment definitely leads to the acquisition of adequate practical skills,” Kovachev also said.

The meeting was initiated by the Ministry of Education and Science as part of a series of regional consultations with interested parties regarding the preparation of the DOMINO-2 project /2024-2028/ under the Swiss-Bulgarian cooperation program. According to it, it is planned that by 2029, Bulgaria will receive five million Swiss francs or just over 10 million BGN for the development of the dual education system. The new program is a continuation of the one with which the foundations of the dual education system in our country were laid in 2015. In the period from 2015 to 2019, within the framework of the Domino 1 project, the Bulgarian model of dual education was developed. Thus, at the moment in the 11th grade, students spend two days at work in a company and three days at school. In the 12th grade, the days spent in a real working environment become three. Students are paid for their work in the respective company. As of April 1 this year, regulatory changes have been introduced, through which the state introduces relief for employers, by fully taking over the social and health insurance of students studying in a dual form of education.

We remind you that after 2019, the Ministry of Education and Science continues the work on expanding the system of dual education through European funding. Thus, in the academic year 2022/2023, the number of students in dual education is a little over 11,700, and in the current academic year there is a slight decrease in the country, explained the head of the secretariat of the Bulgarian-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, Vasil Radoinovski. Ruse region is among the few in which the trend is the opposite. There is an increase in the number of those wishing to study in the dual form of education. For the upcoming academic year 2024/2025, it is even planned to increase the number of majors in a dual form of study by four. One new major will be revealed at the “Ivan P. Pavlov” Vocational High School of Tourism. It is about “Production of Culinary Products and Beverages”. The other three specialties will be at the “Angel Kanchev” Vocational High School of Agriculture. They are, respectively, “Technological and microbiological control in chemical production”, “Production of agricultural products” and “Veterinary technician”. Thus, the total number of places in a dual form of education is expected to increase by another 78. In the past year, they were 575, and for the academic year 2020/2021, students in a dual form of education were 534. Growth is also observed among companies- partners, which are currently 66.