Students from New Bulgarian University in Sofia have proposed the introduction of emotional culture classes in schools.

The project will be financed under the EU operational program "Human Resources Development", the Bulgarian Darik Radio reported on Thursday.

"Children have many gaps in their emotional education and must learn how to express themselves and communicate," said Tsveta Baliyska, one of the participants in the project.

In her words, the emotional culture classes have to be included in the regular schedule with other subjects. She said it could be taught be external specialists.

Last school year, 68 students from New Bulgarian University participated in a project for prevention of aggression and behavioral problems in school. They worked with students from four schools in Sofia and they taught them how to express themselves and be tolerant instead of aggressive to others.

According to Baliyska, the classes were effective and helped solve many conflict situations.

"In order to be mentally healthy, people have to learn to express themselves and not be afraid of the outcome. The more accurately they express themselves, the more precisely they will be understood by other people and there will be better communication. People who are good at expressing themselves win more easily sympathy and empathy," she said.

Baliyska said she believes the introduction of emotional culture classes will be good for building what has not been brought up in the family.

In her words, the classes could be taught be specialists in psychological practices, who are trained to work with groups, rather than individuals. She said that there are enough specialists in Bulgaria who could manage with the task.