After the scandal with CPD

“We cannot censor Bulgarian relics and edit the legacy that was left to us,” Deputy Minister of Education Milena Damyanova told Nova TV on Monday with reference to the scandal over Botev's and Vazov's texts in school textbooks that were defined as discriminatory by the Commission for Protection Against Discrimination (CPD). She firmly stated that literature had to be read in its historical context and that no quotes from Botev and Vazov would be replaced and no phrases used by them would be deleted from the new school curriculum and textbooks.

“The research by the Commission for Protection Against Discrimination on stereotypes and discrimination in textbooks in the Bulgarian education system was not conducted by the Commission itself but by independent experts,” Ana Strashimirova, Chairperson of the Commission, explained. She pointed out that the research was commissioned under EU projects and BGN 17,799 were paid to companies and non-governmental organisations. In addition, BGN 20,363 were paid for devising school modules.

The author of the report – Mukaddes Nalbant, former Deputy Minister of Education – said in a TV interview that criticism against her was ungrounded. She claimed she had never said that quotes from Bulgarian authors had to be replaced or excluded from textbooks. “The problem does not lie with the authors or their works. Authentic texts should keep their literary value and should be presented in a way that does not exaggerate the negative attitude towards each other,” Nalbant said. “I joined the research on the invitation of Commission members. When I took part in this research I was not working at the Ministry of Education,” she added. “Words that I have never said were attributed to me,” Nalbant stated.

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