Agricultural professional education & vocational training in Bulgaria: Opportunities for cooperation with the Netherlands

Bulgaria at the Netherlands webinar “Together for green education in Central and Eastern Europe”

Since 2015, Bulgaria is systematically implementing the dual education (learning by working) in various fields – machinery, engineering, gas maintenance, cooking, etc. - with the string commitment of the business under an up-to-date system using the experience of countries as Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The agriculture is about to come as many agri companies see the need to invest in their future labour and specialized in agriculture vocational schools are eager to participate.

On 20 January, Bulgarian participants in the Netherlands webinar “Together for green education in Central and Eastern Europe” seeking ways for cooperation with Dutch investors and education institutions.
 

Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture

The link between theory and practice increases the competitiveness of the sector, the vitality of rural areas and the well-being of farmers, said Momchil Nekov, Ph.D. Deputy Minister of Agriculture. One of the main ways to achieve the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy in the programming period 2023-2027 is to focus on knowledge and innovation. These activities will be supported in the Member States through the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), in order to encourage interaction between people and organizations, promote mutual learning, generate, share and use knowledge and information related to agriculture.

As a representative of the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and in my capacity as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, I would like to encourage joint work to improve the quality of agricultural education - both between specialized universities and secondary schools, and between training and consulting organizations and institutions.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Momchil Nekov declared the willingness of the Republic of Bulgaria and in particular the Ministry of Agriculture for cooperation and joint work on vocational education, as an essential part of the development of the agricultural sector today.

Agricultural University - Plovdiv

The Agricultural University – Plovdiv works closely with professional schools, industry, and national authorities on different initiatives and projects. Now we are implementing advanced training programs for students, entrepreneurs, and professionals who can face the challenges of the green transition, said Rector Prof. Hristina Yancheva, PhD. The important point of the University is to make the future steps towards becoming a regional hub combining science, industry, and education. For us will be privileged to be involved in the Netherland initiative "Together for green education in central and eastern Europe" and share knowledge and experience in smart agriculture, organic farming, and bioeconomy through practical training and exchange of students and teachers.

Dual eduaction

Petya Evtimova, Chairperson for the Modern Education Foundation in Bulgaria: The main activities of the Foundation are advocacy and lobbying for key policies in the area of general and vocational education. Presently, we implement a number of international projects in the field of dual education, green skills in VET and civic education with over 15 partners from different European countries. The Foundation has been established in 2019 by the members of the team that successfully implemented the Swiss-Bulgarian Pilot Project for dual education, widely known as DOMINO Project. The Foundation is providing also different trainings and educational programs for young people, teachers and company instructors. Besides, we help establishing public-private partnerships and sustainable cooperation between educational institutions and business organizations. In this regard, we will be happy if we have the opportunity to cooperate with partners from Netherlands within the initiative „Together for green education in Central and Eastern Europe“.

NIK Academy

is a training center which offers a solution to one of the biggest challenges farmers are facing today - the shortage of well trained staff. The Academy has modern facility with contemporary equipment and comfortable halls, where the presentations are help. Also special spaces with demonstration equipment for the practical part of the training. In addition, NIK Academy also offers farm equipment and test fields for real field trainings. Since the autumn of 2017, the training center welcomes Bulgarian and foreign farmers and train them to work with the technologies offered by NIK, the novelties in the precision farming industry, good practices for crop care and etc. In 2019 the Netherlands embassy in Bulgaria together with NIK Academy organised the first AgriTech Hackathon in the country, promoting digitalization and precision of agriculture. 

See the video of the Bulgarian participants

Read the report Agricultural Education in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania