2024-08-31 14:09:32
The students’ autumn vacation will be from October 31 to November 3, the spring vacation from March 29 to April 6, and for the twelfth graders – from April 4 to 6. This is recorded in the order for determining the schedule of school hours after the public discussion has ended. The Ministry of Education and Culture expresses its gratitude for the officially received 93 opinions, of which 90 were individual, 1 from an employer’s organization, 2 from trade union organizations and 4 from teachers’ collectives of schools. All of them were examined in detail and many of the proposals have been incorporated into the final document, which will be implemented in the academic year 2024/2025.
The Ministry of Education and Culture recalls that in the draft schedule proposed by the ministry, a vacation of 10 consecutive non-school days was foreseen for students from 1st to 11th grade in the period April 12 – April 21 inclusive, and for twelfth graders 5 days of rest – from 17 April to April 21 incl. This distribution also included the Easter weekend. In the process of public discussion, the opinion prevailed that the spring break should not be combined with the days off for the Easter holidays. That’s why the Ministry of Education and Culture complied with the numerous proposals to separate it from Easter and moved it to the days from March 29 to April 6, and for twelfth-graders – from April 4 to 6.
The Ministry also took into account the received requests for changes in the school holidays for Christmas and New Year. The project proposed a longer winter vacation of 13 days (December 24 – January 5 inclusive) at the expense of only three days off at the beginning of November (November 1 – November 3) and one (February 4) between the two school terms. After numerous opinions and proposals, this was revised and the Christmas vacation will start from December 21 and continue until January 2 inclusive, and the midterm is moved to February 5. This also allows for an increase in the fall vacation, which will be from October 31 to November 3.
To offer this increased number of days off, national external assessment exam days become school days for all students. Until now, the exams in the 7th grade in Bulgarian language and literature and in mathematics were on a non-school day. In the previous year, for the first time, the national external assessment for the 10th grade was held on a school day, which the system handled without disruption. This will apply in the 2024/2025 school year and for 7th grade, allowing for most days off during the school term.
In order to avoid misunderstandings, in the order determining the dates for the exams, it is explicitly stated that for students in the 7th and 10th grades, appearing for the national external assessment in Bulgarian language and literature and in mathematics, the school day ends with their laying. For the rest of the students, the principals create an organization for conducting classes and activities, providing opportunities to work on projects, outsourced training, distance learning in an electronic environment, and other appropriate forms, so as not to interfere with the conduct of exams and to guarantees peace of mind for those attending them. School directors issue an order and inform parents about the created organization.
The dates for the exams of the national external assessments in Bulgarian language and literature and in mathematics remain as they were proposed in the project of the Ministry of Education and Culture – June 18 and 20 (7th grade) and June 13 and 16 (10th grade), respectively. For fourth-graders, the Bulgarian language and literature exam will be on June 3, and the math exam on June 4. The mandatory state matriculation exams and the state exam for acquiring a professional qualification will be on May 21 and 23.
As a result of the opinions received during the public discussion of the draft timetable, the second academic term for students from 1st to 3rd grade will end on June 2, 2025, for twelfth graders on May 15, and for students from 4th to 6th grade on June 16.
Before approving the schedule, the MES thoroughly analyzes all the proposals received during the public discussion. What they all had in common was the desire for more, longer and more evenly distributed breaks for students and teachers during school hours. This has always been the aspiration of the Ministry of Education and Science. However, the different regulatory requirements should be taken into account when determining the schedule of study time. It is imperatively regulated in the regulations that the first school term lasts 90 school days for all classes and a different number of school days for the second school term for different classes – 65 school days for 12th grade students, 70 school days for 1st grade students .-3. grade, 80 school days for students from 4.-6. class and 90 school days for students from 7.-11. class. Therefore, all proposals for changes in the schedule of study time should comply with these requirements.