In its statement recently published on its website, the Bulgarian Green Party (Zeleno dvizhenie) insisted on protecting the secular nature of education and improving its quality, based on modern scientific knowledge.
“We demand that religious education remain optional and not subordinate to a particular denomination, and that the upcoming public discussions on the Concept for Curriculum Changes be widely disseminated and accessible to various stakeholders,” suggested Zeleno dvizhenie.
For the Bulgarian Greens, the history, culture, and identity of the Bulgarian people are deeply linked to Christianity and the spiritual tradition of the Orthodox Church. While showing deserved respect and gratitude for its important spiritual and educational role in the development of Bulgarian society over the centuries, the Greens express their categorical disagreement with the introduction of compulsory religious education in Bulgarian schools.
In the context of serious and growing problems regarding the quality of education in Bulgaria, the idea of compulsory religious education is retrograde and inadequate. “It responds to the urgent need for profound reforms in the content, structure, and organization of the education system.”
The Green Party stated that compulsory religious education in Orthodox Christianity and Islam contradicts the general spirit of the new Law on Preschool and School Education (LEPS), adopted after a long and broad public debate in 2016. Its objective is progressive, secular, and modern education adapted to contemporary global challenges.
Zeleno dvizhenie
Article 11, paragraph 2, point 1, of the ZPUO categorically prohibits the imposition of ideological and religious doctrines. The removal of this text will pave the way for the introduction of such doctrines in Bulgarian schools, similar to the Order of the Knights Templar of Jerusalem – Grand Priory of Bulgaria – which has been operating in Bulgarian schools for ten years with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science and trade union leader Yanka Takeva.
For the Greens, the Minister of Education and Science’s desire to amend the law by removing Article 11 on the secular nature of education in the Republic of Bulgaria suggests that the idea of compulsory religious education was formulated under pressure, or that it is being reworked piecemeal, with no clear understanding of whether this change would fit into the overall educational strategy and policy.
