Education minister Prof Georgi Valchev will look for ways to make it easier for pupils from Bulgarian Sunday schools abroad to enter universities in Bulgaria, the ministry said. It will also look for more ways to support teachers and to adapt teaching materials to the needs of children abroad.

Valchev met the team of the Bulgarian school in Budapest while he was in the Hungarian capital for the 21st World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, organised by the BTA news agency. Also at the talks were Vanya Kotorova, the school's head, Zornitsa Gogan, chair of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad, and Dancho Musev, chair of the Bulgarian Republican Self-Government in Hungary. Other guests included Simeon Varga, who speaks for the Bulgarian national community in the Hungarian parliament, MPs Boyko Mladenov and Ivan Golomeev, and others.

School representatives said some young people who want to study in Bulgaria face problems because application rules differ and because of the way Bulgarian language exam results are counted. Valchev assured them that the solution will take into account how Sunday schools work and what universities require.

Teachers said many pupils speak Bulgarian only at Sunday school. They often work with children at different levels of the language, so each child needs an individual approach. The minister said Bulgaria has similar difficulties with children whose first language is not Bulgarian. He said the schools need suitable textbooks and training programmes designed for teaching abroad.

"You will always have our support. This is Bulgaria's duty," Valchev said. He said the unity of the community in Hungary is a big advantage. He added that learning Bulgarian makes it possible to train future Bulgarian studies experts and translators who can help build ties between the two countries.

The minister proposed holding a forum next year with representatives of Bulgarian schools abroad, university lecturers and Bulgarian language experts. It would focus on improving teaching materials and teaching methods. The sides also discussed extra training and teaching support for teachers, funding for Sunday schools and more flexible forms of learning.

Valchev gave the school books, along with a digital and a printed copy of Hristo Botev's notebook. He also presented it with an honorary plaque from the ministry for its work in preserving the Bulgarian language, culture and national identity among Bulgarians in Hungary.

The Bulgarian mother-tongue school and kindergarten in Budapest are housed in the Bulgarian Cultural and Educational Centre and have more than 150 children and pupils. The school also runs classes in Halásztelek, Szigetszentmiklós and Szentendre. It continues the tradition of Bulgarian education in Hungary, which began in 1918.

There are 401 Bulgarian Sunday schools in 43 countries on six continents, with nearly 40,000 pupils. State funding for them is more than €8m. In July, at the 19th annual conference of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad, held in the aula of Sofia University "St Kliment Ohridski", deputy minister Prof Dr Eng Senya Terzieva called support for Sunday schools one of the most successful policies of the Bulgarian state in working with the diaspora.