Bulgaria gets an average score of 3.28 out of 6 for how it has cared for children over the past 15 years. That is the finding of the "Report Card 2026" monitoring report by the National Network for Children, which MPs discussed in parliament's committee on labour, demographic and social policy.

The data comes from government ministries. Where they have none, the report uses independent studies. It also notes a gap between the information institutions collect and what they make public.

Maria Brestnichka from the network's secretariat presented the figures. She said the score shows the state can do much more. Over 15 years, she said, several major reforms and plans were adopted, but today they look like scattered measures and separate systems that do not talk to each other.

There are 80,000 fewer children in Bulgaria, about as many as are born in a year and three months. Child deaths have fallen by half, but a child born in Razgrad is six times more likely to die in the first year of life than one born in Sofia. The comparison is for the latest year.

More than 30% of children are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, and the share has barely changed over the years. Brestnichka said large families are the poorest, poorer even than pensioners. She added that more children are now in school, but the education system tends to repeat inequality rather than make up for it.

One in three children says they have been a victim of violence or abuse. The score for "protection from violence" is 3.35. Donika Koleva from the Concordia foundation called for a national policy to prevent violence in schools. Anna Bodakova from Democratic Bulgaria said artificial intelligence has been one of the drivers of online violence in recent years. She is among the authors of a bill on digital literacy in schools.

Rayna Negoycheva, a student at Concordia, presented a survey of young people with three proposals. School psychologists should not be mere administrators. Schools should have classes in digital skills and media literacy. Long-term programmes on non-violent communication, and after-school activities on empathy, listening and mutual respect, should get funding. She also proposed a mental health class that includes the youngest pupils.

MP Diana Dimitrova from Progressive Bulgaria said no one in Bulgaria can get a referral to a psychologist, because a psychologist is not a medical professional. In her words, universities could train psychologists with a "school psychologist" specialty.

Deputy education minister Tanya Pancheva said discipline is a problem in schools, which is why measures have been proposed. She said a single information system for institutions is being built, and it could send early warnings about children at risk.

Alexandrina Dimitrova, chair of the network's management board, called the closure of the large state homes for children with disabilities and for children without parental care a major achievement. Two remain, in Pleven and Varna, and she expects them to close by the end of the year. Twice as many children live in residential service centres as in foster families, and she said this is not good for the children and costs more. Dimitrova called for the debate on foster care to start again, for project-based funding to stop, and for a clear strategy to attract, keep and support foster families.