The education ministry has received a letter dated 14 October from Prof Miroslav Dachev, rector of the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA), along with a roadmap. Education minister Prof Georgi Valchev said this in reply to a parliamentary question from Aleksandra Sterkova of Democratic Bulgaria about the inter-agency group on the protests at the academy.

The letter and the roadmap will be sent to the members of the group.

The document has two parts and follows the recommendations of the inter-agency commission of 18 September, Valchev said. The first part has five groups of questions. They cover the work of the single information system for managing teaching and work processes, the board of trustees and the Burgas branch. They also cover whether students can get back 20% of their fee if they pass the year, the teaching of students when fewer than four people enrol, and NATFA's part in the European consortium.

The same part includes the open letter from protesting students to the authorities and the media (July 2026) and the complaint from teachers to the ministry (January 2026). It also lists the ministry's audit report (April 2026) and the meetings of the inter-agency commission (September 2026).

The minister passed on the position of the rector's team: the roadmap was drawn up to meet an obligation it had taken on, and the problems are being solved step by step.

Sterkova and MPs Elisaveta Belobradova and Anna Bodakova proposed that the parliamentary committees on culture and media and on education and science meet together. No joint meeting took place, but the minister accepted the idea and an inter-agency group was set up. It includes the education ministry, the culture ministry, invited MPs from both committees and others.

The group has met three times. At the end of the meetings Dachev committed to draw up a plan and a list of the problems, and to work on solving them within one month. NATFA's leadership also committed to tell students about the next steps and decisions.

"The deadline runs out on 18 October. As of today, we have no information about such a list or about any action taken," Sterkova said.

The ministry's internal audit unit carried out the audit at NATFA under an approved annual plan. It covered the period from 1 January 2023 to 30 September 2025, when the academy had two rectors: Prof Stanislav Semerdzhiev until 14 March 2024, and Dachev from that date. On 25 September Valchev answered a question from MP Pavel Popov about what the ministry did after the audit and the breaches it found in how the academy is run and how it manages its money.

Students and teachers began protesting against the rector in late June. Many attempts to restart talks followed. On 15 September they marched again, when the dispute had lasted three months. The students and teachers want Dachev to resign and the ministry to act.

On 2 September Valchev replied to an urgent question from Belobradova in the education and science committee. He said NATFA's place in the European alliance FilmEU is not under threat. He said all of the academy's commitments in the alliance are being met and will continue to be met.

On 15 July Dachev told journalists: "The European alliance FilmEU will go on, there is institutional support, everything else is insinuation, like the claim about dismissal. There are no reprisals, no dismissals, no withdrawal of support." The same day, the ministry and the National Representation of Student Councils met to discuss the problems that led to the tension between NATFA's leadership and the students.