site.btaOECD Study: Young People in Bulgaria Improve Their Skills

An OECD study based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that young people in Bulgaria have improved their skills and this country is in the top 20 per cent of 14 EU countries, the Education and Science Ministry said on Thursday.

The improvement of the Bulgarians' skills is on a par with their peers in Estonia, Poland, Portugal and Romania. Germany, Latvia and Slovenia have also seen a high level of improvement. Hungary, Czechia, Finland, Slovakia and Sweden are at the opposite end of the scale.

Bulgaria is also in the top 20 per cent in terms of the quality of adult inclusive education, which is close to the level of Germany and Hungary. 

The study found that the Bulgarians' skills are not used adequately to match labour market needs and Bulgaria is in the bottom 20 per cent together with Portugal, Czechia tops the list. Improving this is one of the priorities of the future National Skills Strategy.

The OECD will draw up assessments and recommendations for skills development in Bulgaria after discussions, further studies and analysis.