EN 
BG 
UA 
Education
The Ministry of Education and Science accepts applications from Ukrainians for enrolment in school
The country’s regional education departments accept applications from Ukrainians seeking or receiving international or temporary protection who want to enroll their children in kindergarten or school. Depending on the age, the class completed so far, the location and the desire of the parents, the refugee children and students are directed to a specific educational institution. The aim is to complete this preparatory work as soon as possible so that refugees can join the training as soon as they receive official legal status in Bulgaria.
Children of dual-parent parents can be admitted to a kindergarten or school without going through the procedures for refugees who have only a Ukrainian passport.
The sample of the application form is published on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science (download here), which parents from Ukraine must fill in and submit to the RDE. In it they must indicate the mother tongue of the child, whether he speaks to some extent Bulgarian or other European languages, where and which class he graduated in his country. Consultations can be obtained on the Hotline of the Ministry of Education and Science 0800 16 111.
There are trained experts in each regional education center who have experience in the admission and training of children seeking or receiving international or temporary protection. A mechanism for the reception of refugee children in the Bulgarian educational system has existed since 2015. It was established in connection with refugees from the war in Syria.
Information on the procedure for admission and education of children and students of preschool and school age from Ukraine in Bulgarian state and municipal kindergartens and schools:
- Applications for admission and education of children and students of preschool and school age from Ukraine in Bulgarian state and municipal kindergartens and schools are to be submitted to the 28 regional departments of education (RDEs) in the regional cities in the country.
- Applications are accepted at the RDE office or at the e-mail address indicated on the RDE website, to which the parent/guardian/custodian/representative of the child or student can submit an online application for admission in state and municipal kindergartens and schools.
- Visibly published on the website of the RDE are:
– sample application from the parent/guardian/trustee/representative of the child or student (Annex);
– telephone number of a RDE expert, fluent in English and/or Russian, who will provide additional information if necessary regarding the admission and education of children and students in state and municipal kindergartens and schools. - The referral of children and students of preschool and school age from Ukraine for admission and education in state and municipal kindergartens and schools is to be carried out after:
– protection status has been granted;– personal number of a foreigner (PNF) has been provided to the child or student, has been entered in the registration card of the parent/guardian/custodian/representative of the child or student, if the child or student is under 14 years of age, or respectively has been entered in a separate registration card – for students over 14 years of age.
- The enrollment of children and students of preschool and school age from Ukraine for education in state and municipal kindergartens and schools can be done after:
– the child or the student has been referred by the head of the RDE for admission and education in the respective kindergarten or school;– a medical record of the child or student according to the requirements of the Ministry of Health has been submitted to the kindergarten or the school;
– an interview has been conducted and the child or student has been referred to a certain preschool group of compulsory preschool education or to a certain grade of school education, if the child or the student does not have a document for completed grade, stage or degree of education, according to Ordinance No. 3 of 06.04.2017 on the terms and conditions for admission and education of persons seeking or having been granted international protection (promulgated, SG, issue 32 of 21.04.2017) - After enrolling the child or student in a certain group at the kindergarten or a certain class at the school, the principal is to provide:
– additional training in Bulgarian as a foreign language;
– psychological support, if necessary, as well as other activities for the general personal development support of the children and students studying in the respective kindergarten or school;– additional personal development support, if necessary, of the children and students studying in the respective kindergarten or school, including resource support for children and students with special educational needs.
In order to assess the individual needs of children and students and to provide resource support to children and students with special educational needs, the principal of the kindergarten or school may seek assistance from the regional centres to support the process of inclusive education.
Download the sample application for admission of children and students seeking or having been granted international or temporary protection in a Bulgarian kindergarten or school and the contact information of the 28 RDEs.
Documents
Download Sample Application form BG
Download Sample Application form UA
Download Sample Application form EN
Recognition of completed period of school education
Recognition is an official written confirmation of compliance of completed period, class, stage, completed school education and acquired professional qualification in a school in a foreign country or in a school of the European School system with those in school education in the Republic of Bulgaria. Recognition of documents issued by schools in foreign countries is a procedure in which for the recognition of grades I to VI documents are submitted to the principal of the selected school, and for grades VII to XII – in the nearest Regional Department of Education (RDE).
The documents recognising a completed class, stage or degree are:
1.An application in a form approved by an order of the Minister of Education and Science;
2.Document for school education and / or professional qualification;
3.A document stating what rights the document under item 2 gives for continuing education, in cases where this is not specified in the document under item 2;
4.In case the person wishes to continue his / her education in the first or second high school stage in a Bulgarian school – reference for the studied subjects with the number of hours and the grades, if they are not entered in the document under item 2;
5.Translation into Bulgarian of the documents under items 2, 3 and 4 by a sworn translator;
6.A document for the last completed class in a Bulgarian school (if any) before the training in a school of a foreign country, when the person wishes to recognise classes from VIII to XII inclusive;
7.Document for paid state fee – for documents submitted to the RDE.
The documents under items 5 and 7 shall be submitted in original, and the documents under items 2, 3, 4 and 6 – in original or copy, certified by a notary or by the school that issued the document.
Recognition is made for the purpose of:
- access to education in the system of pre-school and school education;
- access to vocational training;
- access to education in the higher education system;
- facilitating access to the labor market.
The documents items 2, 3 and 4 shall be legalized, translated and certified in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Acts, with the signed contracts between the Republic of Bulgaria and the country where they were issued or by the Regulations on Legalizations. , certifications and translations of documents and other papers, approved by Decree № 184 of the Council of Ministers of 1958 (SG, issue 73 of 1958), with the exception of documents issued by a school in the system of European schools, which are not are legalized, as well as for persons wishing to recognize classes I to IV inclusive.
Exceptions: Documents of persons seeking or receiving international protection may not be legalized and certified.
Recognition of higher education diplomas obtained at foreign universities
Recognition of higher education acquired in foreign higher education institutions, including higher education institutions in Ukraine, is carried out by different competent authorities depending on the purposes of the requested recognition.
For continuing education in Bulgaria after completing a period of study or obtaining a degree, raising qualifications or applying for a doctorate, the competent authority for recognition of foreign diplomas is the rector of the accredited Bulgarian higher education institution selected for this purpose.
The National Center for Information and Documentation (NACID) at the Ministry of Education and Science organises the procedure for academic recognition of the bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as the doctor’s degree and educational degree in order to facilitate market access to work in unregulated professions.
The necessary documents are the diploma of higher education and the appendix to it. They do not need certifications from Ukraine, but should be accompanied by a legalized translation into Bulgarian. The translator’s signature only needs notarization. More information about the academic recognition procedure itself can be found on the NACID website: https://nacid.bg/.
The exercise of a regulated profession in Bulgaria requires recognition by the relevant competent authority. Examples of regulated professions in the healthcare sector are: doctor, dentist, midwife, nurse, rehabilitator, etc .; from the maritime transport sector are: navigator, ship mechanic, ship electrician, etc. The full list of regulated professions in Bulgaria by categories, as well as the contacts of the competent authorities for each profession can be found on the NACID website: http://professio.nacid.bg/?id=32.
Regional Departments of Education
Follow the link and you will find information about the Regional Departments of Education in Bulgaria – addresses, telephone numbers, e-mails, etc. – https://ukraine.gov.bg/regional-departments-of-education/
Bulgarian language teaching
UNHCR: Bulgarian language textbooks for people running from the war in Ukraine for levels A1, A2 and B1, including audio files: find out more here
Caritas Sofia: Interactive materials for learning Bulgarian: find out more here
Additional information and learning materials
“Education without backpacks” wants to be useful to the Ukrainian children and families fleeing the war, as well as to all volunteers and teachers in Bulgaria who will help to continue the educational process of refugee children. To this end, we have gathered below and will periodically update information on free online learning resources to help children continue to learn and feel the joy of knowledge, even though they are far from their schools, classmates and teachers, far from their homeland.
In addition to Ukrainian, we have selected resources in Russian, Bulgarian and English, which are popular languages among most people in Ukraine and can also be useful.
This article with resources is further developed within the Khan Academy Advocates Community in Europe – find out more here.
Online learning platforms for Ukrainian students recommended by the Ukrainian Ministry of Education at a meeting with Unesco and partners from the Global Education Coalition
– All-Ukrainian online school – Video lessons, tests and tasks for students in grades 5-11 and their YouTube channel. 18 major subjects are available online: Ukrainian literature, Ukrainian language, biology, ecology, geography, world history, history of Ukraine, mathematics, algebra, basics of mathematical analysis, geometry, art, basics of law, science, physics, chemistry, English and foreign literature. There is a mobile application.
– Ukrainian online learning program for students in grades 1-11 by days and hours and their YouTube channel.
– Learning without borders – an educational project for students from 5th to 11th grade on Ukrainian television
Resources in Ukrainian language
– Khan Academy in Ukrainian – in its lite version, still in early stage of development and the connected to it YouTube channel that has additional videos
– Ukrainian textbooks (Electronic versions of textbooks) for 1st -11th grade, dictionaries and pedagogical materials (available for viewing in pdf format and download)
– Kolibri/Learning Equality content that can also be used offline: Blockly 2 Games and About COVID-19: Мій герой – це ти (You are my hero)
Books for reading for 6th grade (Читання книг для 6 класу) from StoryWeaver: Прямі та хвилясті, Голу – коло , Коли Ємма пішла до школи
– The YouTube channel of YankoGortalo – educational videos, songs, poems
– Ukrainian materials for 5th -11th grade with authors Marta Radeva and Andriy Budugai. Thanks to the authors for the permission to share and free use!
– YouTube channels for distance learning of Zhytomyr Regional Council на Житомирски Областен Лицей
– Audio tales in Ukrainian – an initiative of FOX book café thanks to Desi Aleksieva, Olya Soroka and Petko Slavov.
– Ukrainian textbooks in mathematics
– Ucraina – a site with many links and resources in Ukrainian
– Language – Nation’s DNA – a project of a group of Ukrainians passionate about the Ukrainian language and culture
– Навчалочка – worksheets in mathematics, reading and writing
– Казкар – folk tales and legends, audio recordings and cartoons in Ukrainian
– З любов’ю до дітей – Дитячі пісні – YouTube channel with songs
– YouTube channel Masha and the Bear in Ukrainian
– Children’s books in Ukrainian
– Application for Audio Tales in Ukrainian
– The Prometheus platform offers free courses for students in their final year of high school
– The Znoonline application offers preparation for the national external exam “ЗНО” and can be used for basic revision. There is a certain period in which the application can be used for free.
– Audiobooks in Ukrainian – thanks to Inna Rakhmistriuk for granting access
– Children’s educational tools in Ukraine
– Free educational resources in Ukrainian – list of sources collected from Lithuanian colleagues
– Meridian Distance Lyceum – a learning platform for students from 8th to 11th grade, has a free section
– Portal “Together with Ukraine” – provides support to displaced persons from Ukraine who are already in Bulgaria or plan to arrive in the country, with finding housing and work, providing day care for children, addressing educational needs and other forms of assistance. There are language versions in Ukrainian, Bulgarian and English.
Online training in Ukrainian for students from 5th to 9th grade
Launched on Monday, March 7, 2022, free of charge on the platform https://modern-school.online (thanks to Svetlana Goranova, founder of “Fun Mathematics”, and her niece from Kyiv for the information). There will be different assignments, the children can solve the tasks on their own and receive grades. Participates without any formalities. All you need is a laptop, tablet or phone, internet access and registration at: https://bit.ly/3C4aztu. After registration, everyone will receive an email with information about the learning process.
Resources in Russian language
Khan Academy in Russian and the connected to it YouTube Khan Academy Russian
Resources in Bulgarian language
– Khan Academy in Bulgarian (registration is desirable but not required), as well as the related YouTube channel Khan Academy Bulgarian
– Library of the Ministry of Education and Science with free educational resources
– Article with free educational applications and distance learning platforms
– Free content of Prosveta publishing house (registration required)
– Free content of Klet publishing house (registration required)
– Alphabet primer and resources for bilingual children in Bulgarian under the project “Do you understand the language of the school” for training and support of students with different native languages from Bulgarian, the Foundation “Together in class”, “International Association EdukArt” and the “Trust for Social Alternative ”
– Jump Math – Teacher’s guides, materials for mathematics training, suitable for working with Ukrainian children (thanks to the Institute for Progressive Education / Jump Math Bulgaria)
– Bulgarian language textbook for foreign students
– Handbooks and materials with a focus on Internet safety and digital media literacy of children – from the National Center for Safe Internet. They are suitable for teachers, parents and young people
– Lesson plans for the development of digital media literacy based on the Bulgarian national curriculum, developed by teachers – in various subjects from 1st to 12th grade
Resources in English language
– Khan Academy (for students and anyone wishing to study)
– Khan Academy Kids – an educational application for the youngest children, a variety of educational games, songs and e-books in English, but easy and intuitive to use by children of all backgrounds and with different mother tongues, stimulating English learning (for mobile devices)
– List of UNESCO with various distance learning solutions provided in connection with the pandemic
– Educational platforms and resources online:
NOVA Labs and their YouTube channel NOVA PBS Official
Smarthistory and their YouTube channel Smarthistory
YouTube channel American Museum of Natural History
BIG HISTORY PROJECT YouTube channel
LabXchange and their YouTube channel
– Coursera for Refugees (Coursera for Refugees – for organizations working on the topic), Coursera for Campus (currently free for all Ukrainian universities and their students)
– Resources for people affected by the conflict in Ukraine Resources for people affected by the conflict in Ukraine – a list of resources of the Global Coalition for Language Rights to access language support.
–Refugee Educator Academy – a network for online learning and Community of Practice designed to support educators working with refugees
Libraries in Bulgaria with information about books and publications in Ukrainian and Russian
- Sofia: Sofia City Library –
There are no books and editions for children in the Ukrainian language in the fund of the Sofia City Library. Books and resources in Russian can be found at the Russian Center of the Sofia City Library.
- Burgas: Municipal Library “Peyo Yavorov”
The library has some editions in Ukrainian, as well as many in Russian. They also plan events for children online and offline that will be appropriate.
- Varna: Varna Library
The Varna library has about 90 Ukrainian titles, but there are no children’s books in Ukrainian among them. The children’s department has books in Russian and classes with children.
Children’s and high school complex: Zhechka Kiradzhieva – head of department
110 Osmi Primorski Polk Blvd., 9000 Varna
phone 052643886, srd@libvar.bg
- Plovdiv: Ivan Vazov Library
The children’s department has editions in Russian: books with fairy tales by Russian authors; Russian folk tales; fairy tales from world classics for children;
Alphabet primers and textbooks for children of different ages. There are no editions in Ukrainian.
Contact: tel .: 032/622043, nbivdet@libplovdiv.com
- Haskovo: Hristo Smirnenski Library
The regional library in Haskovo has children’s books in Russian and classes are held with children.
Contact: Anna Shtilyanova – Director
Haskovo, 19 Svoboda Square
tel .: 038 622 168; 0879140322
e-mail: dir_lib_hs@abv.bg
- Stara Zagora: Zachary Knyazheski Regional Library
There are no Ukrainian language publications in the library‘s collection.
Books, other resources and services in Russian can be used at the Russian Library Center.
Newsletter for the books available at the Russian Center.
Newsletter of the available disks in the Russian Center.
Contact: Nadezhda Grueva – Director
Stara Zagora, 44 Ruski Blvd.
phone +359 42 648131; 0888642151
email: lib@libsz.org
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