Bulgaria's education ministry has rejected calls for fixed terms for head teachers. Krasimira Stoyanova, head of the ministry's legal department, told parliament's education committee today.

The ministry was responding to a bill from Elisaveta Belobradova and other Democratic Bulgaria MPs, which would cap head teachers at four-year terms and bar them from serving more than two terms in a row. Stoyanova said this could make school management less stable and less consistent.

The ministry has already sent MPs its full written opinion. It broadly supports linking pre-school and school policy with healthcare and social services. The bill names early childhood development as a top national priority. Stoyanova said the ministry wants this handled not just through this one law, but through the relevant specialist laws as well.

Another part of the bill would bring standalone nurseries, currently outside the school system, into it. Stoyanova said this section lacks clear, full reasoning and does not explain what problem it aims to solve. The ministry wants the proposal spelled out in far more detail. Local councils would also get the power to charge fees for standalone nurseries and kindergartens from 1 June to 14 September.

The ministry also has doubts about extra early-years education and care services, which the bill would leave for councils to organise. "We're skeptical about this proposal for the following reasons: the bill doesn't actually spell out what this work involves," Stoyanova said. She added there would be no single, common set of rules for these services, since each council would decide on its own.

The bill would also set new goals for education, including media literacy, critical thinking, and teaching pupils to use modern technology and artificial intelligence. Its backers also want a strategic plan for digital tools and AI in education, to give pupils earlier access to good-quality learning.

The bill would further create a formal role for education mediators, change what is taught and how pupils are assessed, and change who sits on the panels that choose head teachers.