The number of students in Bulgaria in 2016 decreased by 17% compared to 2002 and by 11% since 2006 due to low birth rates and emigration, a monitoring report, quoted by bTV. 

The report was presented today by Stefan Hermann, Director of the Political Strategy and Analysis Directorate of the Commission's Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, in the presence of Deputy Minister of Education and Science Denitsa Sacheva.

The report says that the number of students in our higher education has increased until 2009, but since this period, began to decline. For the period 2012-2016 the total number of students in Bulgaria is decreasing at all levels, except for the initial stage of primary education.

According to the data in Bulgaria, the teaching staff is among the fastest aging in the EU. In 2015, nearly 50% of our teachers were over 50 and 28 per cent were 55 or older, which means they will retire over the next few years.

The report also points out that Bulgarians with higher education are increasing, but graduate profiles show sectoral imbalances. With the current 33.8%, Bulgaria is on track to achieve its national target of 36% for higher education graduates. This is below the EU average of 39.1%.

Segregated by sector, 50% of university graduates have studied social sciences, business management and law (EU average 33%) and only 7% health science (13% in the EU), the monitoring further says.

For five academic years the number of students in Bulgaria has decreased by 12% to 250,000, the report notes, adding that this fact reflects both demographic factors and the increasing preference for Bulgarians to study abroad. In 2014 the number of Bulgarians studying abroad was around 8% of all students, and the share of foreign students was 2.5%.

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