28.06.2023

THERE ARE FOUR PRIORITY AREAS IN THE SKILLS STRATEGY IN BULGARIA, ACCORDING TO AN OECD REPORT

There are four priority areas in the skills strategy in Bulgaria, says a report on the subject of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The document was presented at the House of Europe in the presence of the Minister of Education and Science Prof. Galin Tsokov and the Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoycheva.

The priority areas relate to improving the skills of young people, improving the skills of adults, making effective use of skills in the labor market and the workplace and improving the management of the skills system.

"Most people think of 'skills' as technical and vocational skills related to a particular career activity, but in fact it's all the skills an individual in a country needs to develop their economic and social ambitions," commented Andrew Bell, Team Leader of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Skills Strategy Project. He said that the report describes a total of 40 recommendations related to the development of skills in the country.

"Today we live in a post-pandemic world. A world of nascent industry 5.0, which places its emphasis not only on the economic result, but above all on the human factor, on the possibility of development and well-being of people in society", said during the presentation of the report the Minister of Education and Science prof. Galin Tsokov. According to him, in this post-pandemic world, there is a rapid development of the labor market, which is again related to Industry 5.0.

Prof. Tsokov cites research carried out four years ago in Great Britain, according to which about 60 percent of children who were then in first grade will pursue professions that do not yet exist. The minister pointed out that according to futurologists, in the future, people will perform an average of five to six professions in their daily work.

"This is a huge challenge for modern education systems, and it is not for nothing that in recent months there has been more and more talk about education 5.0. An education that connects the successes and constant development of modern technologies, including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, augmented and virtual reality, with the personal development and well-being of students and teachers,” he said. According to him, this is a new concept of educational practices that brings to the fore personalized learning, the personal development of children and their strengths, and the building of skills on the basis of which they will be ready for life in a dynamically changing society.

In this sense, the report presented by colleagues from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a very important strategic and visionary document, commented the Minister of Education. He added that the report reveals important messages and opportunities for transforming the education system.

We live in a time that we could easily call a "knowledge economy" time, commented the Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoycheva during the presentation of the report.

According to her, the key skills of today are the skills related to the rapid development of technology, along with those to acquire knowledge of critical and analytical thinking. "These are skills that should be developed in every adolescent," she said.

The Ministry of Innovation and Growth believes that the work done so far and the prepared report on the skills strategy within the first phase of the project is a step in the right direction, Stoycheva pointed out. According to her, the priority for the department she leads is the improvement of the overall environment for the development of skills and high-tech human resources in all thematic areas for intelligent specialization.

Skills are at the heart of labor market policies more than ever. Skills are at the heart of the development of new policies in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. This was commented by Nataliya Efremova from MLSP and national coordinator of the European Year of Skills. According to her, students are armed with digital skills, but when it comes to adults, the statistics for Bulgaria are still alarming. Efremova added that only 30 percent of the working-age population, between 16 and 70, has developed basic digital skills.

In the year of skills and in the times of so many crises that have passed both in Bulgaria and in Europe, the luxury of being able to talk about skills and the future is great because it gives us some horizon ahead, said the chairman of the Economic and Social Council of Republic of Bulgaria Zornitsa Rusinova. I think this topic should increasingly be part of the general conversation of our society, she added.