Just a hundred Bulgarian teachers out of thousands expected, rallied Wednesday in Sofia against the allocation of the GDP to education while lawmakers debated the draft budget bill for 2008.

Trade Unions have said the protesters would flood the streets but the few protesters who shouted "Victory" in front of the Parliament explained their colleagues are following their duties in the class rooms and the protest is symbolic.

The education workers ended their strike against low wages in the beginning of November, to welcome students back to classrooms after six weeks of extra vacation.

The unions and the cabinet then agreed to a 22,5% hike for all education employees and allocation of 4,22% of the GDP for 2008.

At today's protest teachers declared that the accepted allocation is insufficient and will bring about the collapse of the education system. They demand at least 4.7% of the GDP to be spent on education.

"The Parliament must decide if Bulgaria is to be a country of potential emigrants or a country of well educated young people", said Nikolay Nikolov, speaker of the strike committee.

Bulgaria's young scientists, who protest against low wages and the negligence the state shows towards the science sphere, joined the teachers' rally. They have made up the longest Bulgarian word in a bid to make lawmakers think about the future of science and education in the country.

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