Background information

Students and adult learners will be facilitated in their career choices through a completely new list of vocational education and training occupations (VETO). This is set out in a draft amendment to the Vocational Education and Training Act, published for public consultation and developed under the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan, the Ministry of Education and Science press office said. The update includes a reformulated list of specialties from professions in which there is an expected shortage of specialists on the labour market for the academic year 2024/2025.

Content of measure

The current list of state-protected professions or specialties for academic year 2023/2024 includes 60 protected occupations. It is published together with an updated List of occupational specialties in which there is an expected shortage of specialists on the labour market for the respected academic year, including 84 occupations or specialties.

For all students who are accepted to study in these specialties, financial support is provided - both for the schools and for the students. The other important element is that there can be classes of at least nine students. In the 2024/2025 academic year, it is planned that for each profession there will be no listed specialties, but up to four degrees of professional qualification for the respective profession will be indicated. These degrees will correspond to the levels of the European Qualification Framework, the National Qualification Framework, as well as the positions that can be filled according to the relevant training.

Use of measure

The draft Decree proposes an updated List of occupational specialties protected by the state for the academic year 2024/2025 and an updated List of occupational specialties in which there is an expected shortage of specialists on the labour market for the academic year 2024/2025.

The specialties with an expected shortage of specialists are increased by one and become a total of 85 from the next academic year. To them is added the specialty 'Locomotive wagons' under the profession 'Railway technician'. Until now, it was on the other list - of the state-protected professional specialties, but from the next academic year it will be removed from it. The specialty 'Electrical equipment of lifting and elevator equipment' in the profession 'Electrician' is also removed from the list. Thus, there are a total of 58 occupational specialties protected by the state. These are specialties that are offered in no more than four schools on the territory of Bulgaria and have a specific content or are studied by a small number of students, and the economy needs them. The state protects these specialties by making it possible for them to be taught in classes with a smaller number of students - a minimum of 9, not 26, as in regular classes.

In the specialties from the other list - with an expected shortage of specialists on the labour market, the classes have no less than 12 students. In order to include a specialty in this list, the need for personnel for it must be proven, including statistical data. Proposals for such specialties are received from line ministries, employer and branch organizations. With the inclusion of specialties from professions with an expected shortage of specialists in the admission plan in state and municipal schools, an opportunity is created to overcome the deficit of prepared personnel in professions of importance to the labour market and the country's economy.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Particular professions Older people in employment (aged 55+)	Applies to all businesses	Parents Other groups of citizens Students

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Trade unions Employers' organisations	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Informed	Consulted
Form	Not applicable	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Only employers' organisations
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

Both trade unions and employer organisations could propose occupations to be included in the lists. Representatives of trade unions and employer organisations participate in an expert groups at the National Agency for Vocational Education and Training .

The Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) and Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) also presented proposals for occupations, for example about 2022/2023 academic year.

The Bulgarian teachers' union was informed by the Ministry of Education and Culture within the framework of the Branch Council for tripartite cooperation in the system of preschool and school education (18.12.2023) about the updated List of state-protected occupations.

In 2022, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce proposed the inclusion of 17 specialties, of which only one was accepted. In 2023, two proposals by employer organisations were addressed within the public consultations of Draft decree of the Council of Ministers on the adoption of the updated lists.

Views and reactions

BIA are active participant in proposals for state-protected professions and in disseminating the changes within the lists since 2019. Most of the new proposals for protected specialties are in the construction sector. 'On the one hand, the number of people working in this field is decreasing. On the other hand, the need for them is constantly increasing. Newer and newer projects, constructions are starting and it is increasingly difficult to find workers. Here I will also mention the demographic problem in the country,' according to Mrs. Antoaneta Katsarova, director of the Professional Training Centrе at BIA.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 30 July 1999: LAW ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING https://lex.bg/laws/ldoc/2134673921 (lex.bg)
• 08 March 2023: Students receive scholarships and have signed employment contracts in companies (www.bia-bg.com)
• 08 March 2023: Decree No. 34 of March 8, 2023 on the adoption of an updated List of state-protected occupational specialties for the academic year 2023/2024 and an updated List of occupational specialties in which there is an expected shortage of specialists on the labour market for the academic year 2023/2024 year Decree No. 34 of March 8, 2023 on the adoption of an updated List of state-protected occupational specialties for the academic year 2023/2024 and an updated List of occupational specialties in which there is an expected shortage of specialists on the labor market for the academic year 2023/2024 year (dv.parliament.bg)
• 11 May 2023: A new list of professions (businessnovinite.bg)
• 20 November 2023: Project of PMS for adopting an updated List of the state-protected occupational specialties for the academic year 2024/2025 (www.strategy.bg)
• 22 February 2024: List of protected occupations and List of occupations with an expected shortage of specialists (www.navet.government.bg)