An agreement between Bulgaria and China on education matters

An agreement between Bulgaria and China on education matters

An agreement was signed between Bulgaria and China, aiming at the mutual collaboration of the two countries in the field of higher education. The agreement has a three-year range (2012-2015) and concerns the exchange of knowledge, scientists and students. The two under-secretaries of the respective Ministries of Education, Petya Evtimova for Bulgaria, and Du Yubo for China, stressed the importance of this collaboration for the present as well as the future.

The strengthening of ties between two countries that claim a place on the global map of education services is of strategic importance. As far as Bulgaria is concerned, this brave invitation to China marks yet another effort to improve its education system – another being the construction of the pioneering database for the evaluation of Bulgarian Universities (BURS), which was received by European and U.S. assessment bodies with the best impressions. With the recent addition of the Chinese-Bulgarian agreement to the armoury of Bulgarian higher Education, the Bulgarian government has managed to strengthen the international calibre of its academic Institutions.

In a recent ranking of all the education systems in the world, published by Pearson, the Bulgarian system was found to be 30th overall, among a total of 40 countries, but some of its institutions ranked as high as 15th. The first places were taken by countries that have a long tradition in investing in the quality of their Universities, such as Finland, S. Korea, Great Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Canada. However, it is worth mentioning that the Bulgarian system ranks as the best in the Balkans. It is certainly impressive how fast Bulgaria is developing its educational system. At current rate of growth and development, it would not be surprising to see Bulgarian universities ranking among the top five in the next decade.