Sylvia Nikolaeva Nikolova Sofia University Strengthening Kindergarten - School Continuity: Key Elements of Transition Practice in Bulgaria Sylvia Nikolaeva Nikolova Sofia University

Children and Society in Bulgaria 1990 - 2005 Socio-demographic indicators Birth-rate Children mortality Out-of-family births Realty Poverty Emigration

Birth-rate and population growth indexes Year Natality Population growth Total fecundity coefficient --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1990 12.1 -0.4  1.81 1995 8.6 -5.0  1.23 2000 9.0 -5.1  1.27 2001 8.6 -5.6 1.24 2002 8.5 -5.8 1.21 2003 8.6 -5.7  1.23 2004 9.0 -5.2  1.29 2005 9.2

Dynamics of infant mortality 1991 - 16.9‰ 1995 - 14.8‰ 1997 - 17.5‰ 2003 - 12.3‰ 2004 - 11,6‰ 2005 – 10.4‰

Number of out-of-family births 1995 - 25.8 % 2000 - 38.4% 2003 - 46.1% 2004 - 48.7% (19% - lived only with their mothers)

Research “Social assessment of children care in Bulgaria” 53% - families with their own home 25.2% - families without an individual bed for each child 14.7% - of them are Muslim-Bulgarians 32.6% - of them are Turkish families 55.6%. – of them are Roma families

Key Elements of Kindergarten – School Continuity Children right of care and education Healthy and Physical Development of children Cognitive Development and Education Psycho-social development and Education Quality of Life and Education of Children

Children right of adequate care and education as a basic element of continuity between kindergarten and school 2004/2005 - 19193 students dropped out of school. over ¼ of the students under 16 don’t finish their education.

Reasons for dropping-out of school Economic - low income of the family, unemployment of parents, lower life standard, commercialization of education, etc. Social - indifferent parents, lack of parent control, bad living conditions, bad influence from environment, different criminogenic factors etc. Cultural and psychological – related to traditions and customs, values of the different ethnic groups. Personal – lack of motivation for learning, negative attitudes to school, difficulties in communication with teachers/classmates, etc. Administrative – inconsistent policy, lack of attention to the problems of these students and inadequate control systems.

Activities to change the situation (1) changing the educational structure (2) social activities (3) special politics concerning children whose mother tongue isn’t Bulgarian and need appropriate educational method

Measures for preventing drop out and reintegrating dropped students to schools adapting school programs; alternative ways of education; developing pilot schools called “ Second Chance”; free lunch at schools; free textbooks for children from 1st to 4th class; second teacher at schools with gipsy and ethnical Turkish students; special programs connected with the cultural traditions and peculiarities of the concrete ethnic society; inform parents about students’ absence.

2. Healthy and Physical Development of children as a main element for continuity between kindergarten and school prophylaxis for children and the obligatory vaccination integrating disabled students meet cases of psycho- social disorder among children content and activities programs and plans

3. Cognitive Development and Education of Children as a Key Element of the Kindergarten – School Continuity Curriculum Bulgarian language and literature; Mathematic; Social World Orientation; Nature Orientation; Art; Sport; Music; Manual arts; Playing culture.

Main features of the programme Orientation to the personality of the child-future student - with his/her psycho-physic and ethno-social specifics; incorporating obligatory educational environment with complementary activities; contents and structure of the childen experience; perceptions skills and values, enrichment through peer influence traditions of Bulgarian democratic education modernized in the spirit of technological progress in the 21 century.

Educational goals of the Programme It aims to assure the possibility of raising the quality of educational communication between preschool teacher and children based not only on the subject curriculum but also on children’s complex social, cognitive and special preparation for school. The educational process should observe the principles of typical preschool practice and its organizational forms – the respective educational situations (obligatory with or without timelines). To ensure the mobility of children in introducing them to various situational forms, developing their self regulation and social learning skills as preparation for their future role of students.

4. Psycho-social development and Education of Children as a Key Element of the Kindergarten – School Continuity Rituality of school life as a element of transition process form kindergarten Transforming the school into territory for students Development of variety of free time activities and informal education forms

Requirements for achieving equal start and access to education Permanent all year access for children to free time activities incl. during vacations; Development of multi institutional network for funding and promoting free time activities and forms of informal education for children and students from K to 12; Active involvement of parents’ organizations and NGOs in projects and programs; Development of strong system of regional and national competitions in the area of informal education for all age groups; Strong binding of students’ higher achievements in and out of school during whole school period with their applying rights in universities.

5. Quality of life and Education of Children as a Key Element of the Kindergarten – School Continuity The physical surrounding space as working and learning environment for children; Implementation and adequate utilization of modern technology in preschool and school practice; Teachers’ competence to become subjects of modern and quality education and instruction.

Factors of quality of life and learning of children and students. Optimal physical environment Using new information and communication technologies (ICT) in education Multifunctional educational space and out-of-school activities Functional literacy (Foreign language education) Effective system for inter and intra evaluation

Thank you for your attention.