- 2017Pilot
- 2018Pilot
- 2019Implementation
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
Objectives
- to improve the conditions for organising and conducting vocational education and training;
- to maintain good quality vocational education and training;
- to provide a set of adequate skills for the professions of the future;
- to train specialists for whom there is demand in the labour market but who are not willing enough to train in these professions and specialties, and to secure staff for areas of priority for regional economic development;
- to address the shortage of specialists in the labour market.
Description
The VET Directorate of the education ministry developed at the end of 2017 a (pilot) forecast model, in cooperation with the nationally representative employers' organisations, to inform admission plans in line with labour market needs. The model is based on the expected replacement needs within the next five years in each economic sector (according to the national classifier of occupations and professions). It uses anonymised data from the national social security institute, based mainly on labour contracts, and data on learners in the VET system (calculated a substitution factor, outlining the deficits and non-compliance areas).
The forecast model is used at the stage of evaluation of proposals presented annually by the nationally represented employers' associations and key ministries for inclusion of additional professions in the list of professions with labour market shortages. The new proposals are evaluated by a committee composed of representatives from the education and labour ministries against the following criteria:
- relevance of proposed specialties/professions to labour market needs in compliance with the labour ministry forecasts and the results of surveys carried out by the Employment Agency;
- significance/importance of the specialty/ profession for the economic development of the country and/or of a particular region.
At the beginning of 2018, the education ministry prepared a list of 57 specialities with expected shortages in the labour market, updated at an annual basis.
The Council of Ministers Decree of June 2018, adopting the list of State-protected specialties of professions and the list of specialties of professions with expected shortage of specialists on the labour market, was implemented since the academic year 2018/19.
Amended at the end of 2018, the decree updated specialities for the academic year 2019/20 and set rules for ensuring that the labour market needs for qualifications were met. The decree also regulated the establishment of an interdepartmental commission with the education minister, featuring representatives from education and labour ministries assigned with the task of drafting annual proposals for updating the lists.
The number of professions with expected labour market shortages increased to 71. Five specialties from the list of State-protected specialties for 2019/20 were removed from the updated list for 2020/21, and one specialty was added. The specialties that were removed from the list no longer met the criterion of uniqueness of territorial character because they were taught in more than four schools in the country. Three specialities were removed from the list of specialities for which there is an expected shortage of specialists in the labour market for the academic year 2020/21, and 17 specialties were added.
With the adoption of the updated list of State-protected specialties from professions, the State plan/admission to VET remained relevant to the economic development of the country and met the needs of employers for qualified staff. The implementation of the amendments implieds the creation of favourable conditions that increase individual motivation to acquire qualifications in professions that foster career development and ensure smooth transition from education to employment.
The implementation of the decree improved the conditions for organising quality vocational education and had a positive effect on the development of the economy, regarding the implementation of regional programmes and projects.. The amendment also provideds conditions for training in specialties in innovative and/or high-tech sectors.
Shortages identified in State protected specialties gave school leaders the right to open classes with fewer students (less than the minimum required number) in these specialties.
At the beginning of December 2021, the usual procedure for the update of the Decree on the list of State-protected specialties of professions, and the list of specialties of professions with an expected shortage of specialists on the labour market for the academic year 2022/23 was launched. The outcome was an amended decree (Decree No 13 of 21 January 2021), which included specialties based on pre-defined criteria. Ministries and employers' organisations participated in this development, which was a requirement set by the Vocational education and training Act (VETA).
The decree added two specialities to the list of State-protected specialties of professions: locomotives and wagons (profession of railway fitter) and production of meat, meat products and fish (profession of operator in the food industry). Renewable energy sources specialty (profession of technician of energy facilities and installations) was added to the list of specialties of professions with an expected shortage of specialists in the labour market.
Another development, in 2021, was that the specialties of computer-aided design and patterning of woven surface products (profession of textile designer), agriculture (profession of plant breeder) and beekeeping and sericulture (profession of livestock technician) will not be protected in the future. They no longer meet the uniqueness of territorial character criterion as they are provided by more than four schools in the country.
The updated list increased the number of protected specialties of professions to 50.
The specialties belong mainly to economic sectors such as mechanical engineering, metallurgy, mining,architecture,construction,transport,electrical engineering and energy, and applied arts.
The number of specialties of professions with an expected shortage of specialists in the labour market rose to 78. Examples of such specialities: machine technicians, machine operators, electricians, chemist technologists, biotechnologists, glass production workers, shipbuilders, sign language translators from and into Bulgarian and polygraphists.
Any changes in the lists come into force the next academic year. In this regard the abovementioned changes will be valid from the academic year 2022/23.
Studies of employers' needs for qualified labour continued. Information was collected from employers about new specialties from professions to be preferentially financed as state-protected or as specialties of professions with expected shortage in specialists. Specifically at the beginning of 2022, an updated list of state - protected specialties for the academic year 2022/23 including a total of 51 specialties and an updated list of specialties with an expected shortage of specialists on the labour market for the academic year 2022/2023 including a total of 78 specialties were adopted.
The specialties Computer design and patterning of woven surface products (Profession Textile Designer), Agriculture (Profession Plant Breeder) and Beekeeping and Animal Husbandry (Profession Livestock Technician) were removed from the list of State-protected specialties.
After the update of the list, the protected specialties became 51, mostly in the field of mechanical engineering, metallurgy, mining, architecture, construction, transport, electrical engineering and energy, applied arts, etc. Some of most wanted specialties of professions for an expected shortage in the labour market was identified were machine technicians, machine operators, electricians, electricians, chemical technologists, biotechnologists, workers in glass production, shipmasters, translators from and into Bulgarian sign language, polygraphists, etc.
In 2022, the Employment Agency conducted two rounds of survey on employers' workforce needs. Data from the beginning of 2022 demonstrated the labour market would need will need 111 040 professionals (the highest demand was identified for tailors - with 9 621 requests, followed by machine operators - with 6 659 requests, builders - with 4 901 , cooks - with 4 487, etc.
These studies from the Employment Agency proved beneficial for the preparation of future National Employment Plans and for social partners who adapted their training projects (especially for vulnerable groups) according to the findings of such surveys.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Education and Science
- National employer organisations
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Young people (15-29 years old)
Education professionals
- School leaders
Other stakeholders
- Social partners (employer organisations and trade unions)
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
High-quality and timely skills intelligence is a powerful policy tool, helping improve economic competitiveness and fostering social progress and equality through the provision of targeted skills training to all citizens (Cedefop, 2020). Skills intelligence is the outcome of an expert-driven process of identifying, analysing, synthesising and presenting quantitative and/or qualitative skills and labour market information. Skills intelligence draws on data from multiple sources, such as graduate tracking systems, skills anticipation mechanisms, including at sectoral and regional levels. Actions related to establishing and developing such systems fall under this thematic sub-category.
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
VET standards and curricula define the content and outcomes of learning, most often at national or sectoral levels. VET programmes are based on standards and curricula and refer to specific vocations/occupations. They all need to be regularly reviewed, updated and aligned with the needs of the labour market and society. They need to include a balanced mix of vocational and technical skills corresponding to economic cycles, evolving jobs and working methods, and key competences, providing for resilience, lifelong learning, employability, social inclusion, active citizenship, sustainable awareness and personal development (Council of the European Union, 2020). The thematic sub-category also refers to establishing new VET programmes, reducing their number or discontinuing some. It also includes design of CVET programmes and training courses to adapt to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and re-skilling needs.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET agile in adapting to labour market challenges
Osnabrück Declaration
- Establishing a new lifelong learning culture - relevance of continuing VET and digitalisation