We are not faced with a lack of students, we are faced with a lack of prospects before the students after their graduation
The President of Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar” Prof. D Sc Anna Nedyalkova is a guest in Directions.eu on Cherno More TV.
The current situation in education is very bad and this is due to two crises – an economic one and a demographic one – there are not enough students and there is no money for education. But if we allow decapitalisation of the educational system and dispense with the academic capacity which we have built up, then in a few years’ time we will bitterly regret it. Right now, we need to preserve the academic capacity, and the way to do this is to provide global opportunities, says the President of Varna Free University Prof. D Sc Anna Nedyalkova in the studio of “Directions.eu”, a programme on Cherno More TV.
According to Prof. Nedyalkova, Bulgarian universities must be present at international expositions abroad, in the same way western universities do in Bulgaria, and the regulatory framework must facilitate this.
On the problem of the great number of vacancies at universities the President of Varna Free University said: “The state places an order for certain specialists but provides no guarantee for their future realization, not backing its order up with real job vacancies. It needs to differentiate between the two things – it should order only what it can guarantee it will consume, and provide conditions for the rest to become part of the 46 % share of the people with higher education diplomas, which means that everyone should have the opportunity to study, but the state should order only what it can consume.
The notion that private universities are mostly the choice of those who cannot gain admission to the state ones has long turned into a mere myth. Right now, when Sofia University has 300 vacancies, our university has achieved the planned admission figures. We are not faced with a lack of students, we are faced with a lack of prospects before the students after their graduation”, said Prof. Nedyalkova. She pointed out that Varna Free University is better accepted in Europe and around the world than in Bulgaria. “The evaluation the university has received is not by sheer chance, the European Commission has awarded us with the three labels of quality and we are included in the 50 “Excellence” universities in Europe, which comes to say that they understand what we essentially do, support us and give us high assessment. We are very well accepted in Asia and Africa, we are a desired partner, and when it comes to our students’ qualities and skill, the feedback we receive is very positive.” Among the numerous examples of Varna Free University graduates Prof. Nedyalkova pointed out the chief engineer of the Vienna U-Bahn underground system, the first CEO of HYPO Bank in Austria, a member of the management team of the German Ausland Bank.
During the Cherno More TV broadcast she outlined the four systematic problems of higher education in Bulgaria. The first one refers to the balance that must be struck between public and private investment in education. The second systematic problem relates to the ratio of regulation to autonomy. This is the regulation-autonomy-responsibility triangle. The third problem lies in the lack of relevance between the quality of life and education. The fourth problem concerns the legislative and regulatory environment in which higher education operates.
Education is not a brooch for politicians to wear on their lapels. We will put our trust in the first politician who clearly defines what exactly an educational reform will involve, and what definite steps we will be able to take.
Prof. Nedyalkova is adamant that education must head forward and upward, with a greater national confidence on the way of true values and partnership without confrontation.
Watch Prof. Nedyalkova’s interview on the Directions.eu programme of Cherno More TV here: