The State will pay for the education of children in private kindergartens and schools as of the next school year, provides the draft Law on Pre-school and School Education, which the Government approved yesterday. The changes aim at ensuring equal treatment of children for whom, education is compulsory until their 16 years of age, under the Constitution. The Government will allocate some more BGN 10 mln per year over the current education budget for funding of private schools and kindergartens.

The bill provides that, as of the 2016-2017 school year, 4 years old children should attend kindergartens mandatory. In this way, Bulgaria will put in line its educational policy with the European directives. According to these, until 2020, at least 95% of the children between 4 and 7 years of age would have to attend kindergartens.