Round table on the topic "Challenges to the Development of Higher Education in Bulgaria"

On 27.05.2024, in the city of Varna, a round table was held on the topic "Challenges to the Development of Higher Education in Bulgaria". The event was organized by the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency, and hosted by the University of Economics - Varna (UI-V). The seminar was held in a hybrid format, with the possibility for remote participation of guests.

The seminar was attended by the Minister of Education and Science - Prof. Galin Tsokov, the Rector of UI-V - Prof. Evgeni Stanimirov, the President of NEAA - Prof. Eliza Stefanova, the Vice_president of the Agency - Prof. Maria Shniter, Assoc. prof. Silvia Tsvetanska - member of the Accreditation Council of NAOA, the Chairperson of the Council of Rectors of Universities in the Republic of Bulgaria - Prof. Miglena Temelkova, the Chairperson of the Commission for Education and Science in the 49th National Assembly - Krasimir Valchev, Assoc. prof. Mediha Mehmed-Hamza - member of the Committee on Education and Science in the National Assembly, the regional governor of Varna - Prof. Andriyana Andreeva, rectors of higher schools in the country, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, educational institutions, trade unions, business partners, employers.

The seminar was opened with introductory words by Prof. Tsokov via video conference, and by the Rector of UI_V - Prof. Stanimirov. Subsequently, three discussion modules were held with different moderators on topics related to the theme of the seminar.

During Module 1, Prof. Stefanova, Prof. Schnitter and Assoc. prof. Tsvetanska made a oresentation on the subject of "Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Accreditation - Regulation, Implementation, Challenges and Prospects". Moderators of the discussion in Module 2: "Challenges to the development of higher education in Bulgaria" were Mr. Krasimir Valchev and Assoc. prof. Mediha Mehmed-Hamza. Prof. Temelkova was the moderator of Module 3: "Vision for higher education in Bulgaria".

Тhe presentation from Module 1 and a full recording of the workshop and discussionscan be found at the following links:

Presentation: "Quality assurance in higher education: accreditation - regulation, implementation, challenges and perspectives" https://cloud.neaa.government.bg/index.php/s/xkmyTqZqxsDPAEJ

Conference part 1: https://cloud.neaa.government.bg/index.php/s/GHfcw52pmP4Bftn

Conference part 2: https://cloud.neaa.government.bg/index.php/s/o9Yf86jg8DQZ68E

According to Prof. Stefanova, "The criteria for evaluating the quality of higher education in our country are (in line with) the European (Standards and Guidelines), but it is necessary to reduce the indicators on the basis of which the evaluation and accreditation are carried out. At the moment, the indicators are 100, and this makes it difficult for higher schools." Prof. Stefanova added that a certain degree of differentiation has already been done for universities, for example, the academies of arts and sports. "However, more refinement is still needed so that the indicators correspond to a greater extent to the specificities of the various higher schools." - added the NEAA President and emphasized that it is mandatory to build a unified electronic infrastructure that would ease the process of higher education accreditation even more.

"The quality of higher education is a very complex phenomenon, and so far, no objective answer has been given anywhere in the world as to what exactly it is," said UI-V Rector, Prof. Stanimirov. According to him, attempts to measure quality require finding the intersection between objective and non-objective criteria, because sometimes the latter are of paramount importance, like those related to the arts. Prof. Stanimirov added that the future really lies in the development of joint specialties between the universities - UI - Varna has such with both Bulgarian and foreign universities.

Images: UI-V

Prof. Miglena Temelkova pointed out that the most important thing is to create the digital system provided for in the Higher Education Act, which will allow for a much easier transfer of the documents required by NEAA for the accreditation of universities. According to her, it is mandatory to shorten the period of evaluation, which now lasts over a year. As a problem, Prof. Temelkova pointed out that there are three types of higher education institutions in the country, but the legislature defines only research institutions. She believes that it is necessary to draw up regulations for the other two types - practical-applied and educational, and on this basis, it would follow that the criteria for their accreditation should be different. The Council of Rectors of Higher Schools has proposals, and participates in all working groups on the subject. During the last year, active work has been done precisely on the differentiation of higher schools. "In the end, nothing of what we discussed entered the plenary hall, but rather the bill for the abolition of student fees was initiated," commented Prof. Temelkova.