- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Completed
Background
Bulgaria aligned national initiatives with those taken by the European Commission in 2018 aimed at improving the key competences and digital skills of European citizens.
Objectives
To support the national labour market policy by providing analysis and data on the skills needed for key professions/occupations in all economic sectors.
Description
The initiative is funded by the ESF under the operational programme (OP): Human resource development 2014-20, and is implemented through two components.
Component one has been implemented by the labour ministry and component two by the national employer organisations. A unified toolkit has been developed in component 1, including methodologies and requirements for job research and identification of the digital skills required for the development of digital skills profiles in key positions and occupations, and for tools to assess specific digital skills. The unified toolkit ensures a common approach and the quality of the identification of digital skills and the development of profiles of digital skills. This initiative aims to increase digital literacy and to promote the formation of special professional digital skills in the workforce. It targets employees, including the self-employed, in all age groups, and employers so that they adapt to changes in human resource management. This initiative supports the labour ministry and the labour market institutions, through the joint actions of the social partners, to support companies and the workforce to adapt to change better by providing them with effective models and tools tested in a real environment. In this way, the impact of Industry 4.0 on the labour market will be anticipated and actively managed, and a smooth transition and adaptation of the workforce to new skills needs...
The initiative is funded by the ESF under the operational programme (OP): Human resource development 2014-20, and is implemented through two components.
Component one has been implemented by the labour ministry and component two by the national employer organisations. A unified toolkit has been developed in component 1, including methodologies and requirements for job research and identification of the digital skills required for the development of digital skills profiles in key positions and occupations, and for tools to assess specific digital skills. The unified toolkit ensures a common approach and the quality of the identification of digital skills and the development of profiles of digital skills. This initiative aims to increase digital literacy and to promote the formation of special professional digital skills in the workforce. It targets employees, including the self-employed, in all age groups, and employers so that they adapt to changes in human resource management. This initiative supports the labour ministry and the labour market institutions, through the joint actions of the social partners, to support companies and the workforce to adapt to change better by providing them with effective models and tools tested in a real environment. In this way, the impact of Industry 4.0 on the labour market will be anticipated and actively managed, and a smooth transition and adaptation of the workforce to new skills needs will be ensured.
To support the initiative a National Advisory Council has been set up, whose main task is to discuss and coordinate activities in component two. The Council includes representatives of the main institutions related to the labour market and education and training - the education ministry, the labour ministry, the Employment Agency, the National Agency for Vocational Education and Training (NAVET), and the national employer organisations.
The profiles of digital skills that will be developed can be used free of charge by all stakeholders (employers, employees, careers counsellors and trainers) on a voluntary basis., Human resources managers and careers counsellors will receive support for the introduction of new systems, practices and tools for human resource development and work management in companies.
Employees, including the self-employed, as well as older people (and adult learners) will have the opportunity to test the level of their current digital skills, and to be trained in specially developed programmes to upgrade their digital skills according to the needs of an identified profession/job position so they can exercise it properly and achieve sustainable employment.
NAVET experts will help to further develop the curricula and upgrade State education standards with the digital skills identified. The unified profiles that will be developed within the initiative will be used by teachers for further development of education content, and part of the funds in the new programming period will be directed to training programmes that have been developed on the basis of these profiles.
In 2021, under component one, the labour ministry developed a methodology for determining the status and needs for the development of digital skills of the workforce in Bulgaria.
Under component two, the nationally represented organisations of employers and employees started seven projects for analysing the key professions/occupations in each economic activity/sector that require digital skills.
The implemented activities were the following:
- research and analysis of the needs of economic sectors and economic activity sections) for digital skills based on the developed methodology;
- the development, testing and validation (in the project's context validation is considered the consensus amongst the relevant stakeholders about the 'accuracy') of the developed unified profiles for digital skills in key job posts and/or professions, according to the National Standard Classification of Occupations (NSCO) 2011, that contain the knowledge, skills and behaviour employees should possess to perform their duties within a profession and/or job. The description of the levels of required digital competences (basic, intermediate, advanced and highly specialised) for the respective position and profession was based on the European Competence Framework DigComp2.1 and included a description of actions taken and results achieved. According to the project's- co-agreed with the European Commission- provisions these profiles should be referenced to the Bulgarian qualifications framework (BQF);
- testing the current skills of the workforce of each sector using the tools developed for assessing digital competences;
- designing curricula and non-formal learning programmes for the development of specific digital skills, according to the requirements of the specific position/ profession, in addition to the basic digital skills (according to DigComp2.1);
- pilot testing/adapting/identifying education content/material for the development of specific digital skills in key positions and professions;
- developing and adopting sectoral qualification frameworks for the development of digital skills and adapting and updating the frameworks if necessary;
- developing methodological guidelines aimed at maintaining and upgrading the digital skills needed by workers in all economic sectors to exercise their profession/occupation, thereby ensuring their continuing education and training and better professional realisation;
- raising the awareness of employers and employees about the need for developing their digital skills/competences;
- developing suitable models of social partnership and collective bargaining in enterprises for the technological changes and the digitalisation of work to ensure active change management and the successful adaptation of enterprises and employees to change.
In 2022, the seven projects for the development of digital skills implemented by the social partners were implemented and in this context a total of 565 unified profiles for digital skills were developed and validated//accepted by the respective industry stakeholders.
At the beginning of 2022, over 560 key vocations/occupations were identified for a total of 99 sections of economic activity (between two and seven vocations/occupations per section). On this basis, 565 unified profiles were developed for the needs of these professions/positions. Each of the profiles contains identified general and specific digital skills and the corresponding recommended level of proficiency for each skill.
At the same time, 15 tools were developed to test the digital skills of employees, of which one was an online tool. The developed instruments were used to test 3 680 employed persons in the identified key vocations/occupations. Based on the testing, their level of digital skills was defined, alongside with the recommended level.
The studies served to develop unified sectoral qualifications frameworks for digital skills. By the end of 2022, a total of 99 such frameworks were developed, which are yet to be adopted/accepted (the term adoption here, doesn't involve a formal acceptance, however NAVET signed specific agreements whereby these frameworks will be applicable at sectoral level and will be taken into account for the future development of training programmes) by the interested parties - employers, trade unions, branch organizations, social partners, civil organizations, educational By the end of 2022, based on the collected empirical information, 240 sectoral curricula/ study programmes were developed for each respective section of economic activity. Each study programme was structured using a modular approach, and each of the modules presents the level and projects the future technological trends in the relevant economic section.
At the end of June 2023, all seven projects of the social partners for the development of digital profiles for key identified professions and positions under Component 2 of the initiative were completed. Simultaneously, to consolidate the achieved results, the implementation period for Component 1 of the initiative, carried out by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP), was extended until 30 September 2023. During this period, all unified profiles for digital skills were finalised and uploaded to a centralised database managed by the MLSP for internal use.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Labour and Social Policy(MLSP)
- National employer organisations
- National employee organisations
- National Agency for Vocational Education and Training (NAVET)
Target groups
Learners
- Adult learners
- Older workers and employees (55 - 64 years old)
- Persons in employment, including those at risk of unemployment
- Low-skilled/qualified persons
Education professionals
- Teachers
- Trainers
- Adult educators
- Guidance practitioners
Entities providing VET
- Companies
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
- VET providers (all kinds)
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.
This thematic sub-category refers both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
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.
The learning-outcomes-based approaches focus on what a learner is expected to know, to be able to do and understand at the end of a learning process (Cedefop, 2016). Learning outcomes can be defined at the system level as in national qualification frameworks (NQFs), most of which are currently based on learning outcomes. Learning outcomes can be defined in qualification standards, curricula, learning programmes and assessment, although the last one is still uncommon. This thematic sub-category refers to the use of learning outcomes in these contexts and to development and use of modules or units of learning outcomes in VET curricula and programmes.
This thematic sub-category focuses on developing and updating all kinds of learning resources and materials, both for learners and for teachers and trainers (e.g. teachers handbooks or manuals), to embrace current and evolving content and modes of learning. These activities target all kinds of formats: hard copy and digital publications, learning websites and platforms, tools for learner self-assessment of progress, ICT-based simulators, virtual and augmented reality, etc.
This thematic sub-category refers to acquisition of key competences and basic skills for all, from an early age and throughout their life, including those acquired as part of qualifications and curricula. Key competences include knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by all for personal fulfilment and development, employability and lifelong learning, social inclusion, active citizenship and sustainable awareness. Key competences include literacy; multilingual; science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM); digital; personal, social and learning to learn; active citizenship, entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression (Council of the European Union, 2018).
This thematic sub-category refers to updating VET curricula and programmes to incorporate skills related and needed for the digital transition, including sector- and occupation-specific ones identified in cooperation with stakeholders.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to providing the possibility for individuals who are already in the labour market/in employment to reskill and/or acquire higher levels of skills, and to ensuring targeted information resources on the benefits of CVET and lifelong learning. It also covers the availability of CVET programmes adaptable to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and reskilling needs. The sub-category includes working with respective stakeholders to develop digital learning solutions supporting access to CVET opportunities and awarding CVET credentials and certificates.
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
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). The Development of digital skills initiative: Bulgaria. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/41899