Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics - IEA

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TEACHER PAY AND STUDENT MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT
Bulgaria
Composition of the teacher labor force
The Bulgarian education system went through major changes in the 1990s with the
economic shift from a command to a market economy. Low birth rates also contributed
to the change. Enrollment in primary and secondary school fell steadily (Bulgaria has
experienced one of the largest declines in Europe), but there was a steep rise in the
number of students in higher education, from 120,000 in 1990 to 258,000 in 2000, a
trend that is continuing. Enrollment rates after Grade 8 are relatively low, with only
about 67% of the age cohort continuing to secondary school. The school system
seems to focus more on selection than on retention. Teachers in primary school are
predominantly female. However, as in other European countries, the gap between the
number of female teachers and the number of male teachers is not as wide in secondary
schools. At both levels, there is a falling demand for teachers.
Educational financing is both centralized (state schools) and decentralized (municipal
schools). The latter are funded by a combination of block grants from the Ministry
of Finance for Social Services, a share of municipal tax revenues, and extra-budgetary
funds raised by the schools themselves.
Teacher education
Both primary and secondary school teachers receive their education in universities.
Secondary school teachers must major in the subject they intend to teach. Primary
school teachers (Grades 1 to 4) obtain their qualifications from departments of primary
education within the faculties of pedagogy at the universities. They are trained to teach
all subjects. From Grade 5 on, each class has a special mathematics teacher; these middle
and secondary school teachers are required to study mathematics at university level.
Teacher salaries
Although teacher salaries are low, they are not much lower than salaries in competing
professions. In the early 2000s, the maximum salary a Grade 1 teacher could expect to
receive after 25 years of teaching was 259 leva per month (about $US130). Teacher salary
differentials from one step on the teacher scale to the next is also low, only eight leva
(approximately $US4) per month, so that the difference between a beginning teacher
(Level I) and a teacher with the highest qualification (Level V) is only 40 leva or $US20
per month. There seems to be little or no incentive for teachers to develop professionally,
especially given that in-service teacher education courses can be expensive. In the new
market economy, teachers can supplement their salaries through other work, reducing
their time for non-classroom teaching activities such as class preparation, correction of
homework, availability for school planning meetings, and in-service education.
While teaching is still a respected profession, its status appears to be diminishing.
Despite this, and the apparent erosion of relative salaries, three factors mitigate against a
future shortage of teachers: (i) declining absolute enrollment in primary and secondary
schools, (ii) expanding enrollment in universities, and (iii) a shortage of jobs for
university graduates. Nevertheless, the quality of university graduates entering teaching
may decline, a situation that could affect the quality of mathematics teachers more than
the quality of other teachers.