The Peer Review focused on understanding strategic priorities of ongoing reforms in Bulgaria, the role of social partners in VET, and how VET can help to fulfil labour market needs

The eleventh EQAVET Peer Review was hosted online by the VET Directorate of the Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria on 21-22 February 2023.

Nine EQAVET Network members from Belgium-Flanders, Croatia, Czechia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Slovakia participated as peers.

The VET system in Bulgaria has been undergoing structural changes, focusing on addressing practical needs to update VET programmes to reflect structural changes and other changes in the labour market.

Due to the green and digital transitions, many industries will need to comply with new regulations and workers will need retraining for other occupations.

The Peer Review focused on how to:

• Identify mechanisms and criteria for training needs in the Bulgarian labour market
• Identify skills assessments, anticipation tools, and methods for data collection to develop effective VET programmes In Bulgaria
• Fruitfully engage with social partners for the development of curricula
• Stimulate employer and employee representatives to be more actively involved in the qualification design cycle

The peers discussed that the initial phases of planning have already created a strong basis to work on and focused on barriers to implementation.

Read the flash report summarising the main outcomes of the discussion.

A report with more detailed feedback from the peer reviewers will be shared with the host country.