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© Georgi Kozhukharov
“There is nothing scary if a child does not go to the best school. This does not mean that he will not become a good and capable person.”
The phrase of the Minister of Education Krassimir Valchev, pronounced in June on the occasion of the changes prepared in school exams, provoked many and opposite reactions: from agreeing that education in elite schools is highly overrated to questioning why then people with opportunities to pay for a quality private education they prefer these schools to their children. Every year thousands of students take the National External Assessment exams in Bulgarian language and literature and in mathematics, the scores of which are used to enter secondary school. And the decision of which school to choose (if the test results give a choice, of course) is for parents to seek information from friends and acquaintances, read online forums, and check their achievements.
In support of this choice, “Dnevnik” brings together again the 100 schools whose graduates have achieved the best results in the only compulsory exam for all high school graduates – in Bulgarian language and literature. This year more than 45,000 high school students attended. Information from the Ministry of Education on nearly 1,000 schools across the country was used, published on the national open government portal maintained by the State Electronic Government Agency, and the interactive map below shows the average results by district.
What does the ranking show (not)
The ranking is conditional, as it shows the results in a single subject: Bulgarian language and literature, but does not take into account the achievements of the students in other areas. However, comparisons beyond this mandatory test are difficult. On the one hand, the reason is that for the second matriculation exam each graduate can choose their strongest discipline and their performance significantly exceeds their level in other subjects. On the other hand, fewer high school graduates appear on the second exam, because some of them prefer to take a state exam for a professional qualification rather than a second maturity in a general education subject.
The table shows the success of the exams and does not necessarily mean that Bulgarian language and literature are taught at a very high level in schools. Additionally, many high school graduates continue to attend additional private lessons in preparation for graduation. It doesn’t matter how many students have achieved the school’s average result. For this reason, the list lacks, for example, the Special School for the Visually Impaired “Louis Braille”, which ranks third in result (5.60), but with only two students. The others, with more than 10 respondents, are on the list, as they give a picture of smaller cities, and a Dobrich school with five high school graduates is also in the ranking, as it is the only one with a sufficient score. high enough to enter the top 100.
One third of the leaders – in Sofia
Among the schools with the best results, traditionally Sofia schools prevail: a total of 32 out of 100 submitted. Plovdiv remains in second place with seven schools, followed by Burgas with 5, Varna with 4 and Ruse, Veliko Tarnovo, Pleven and Stara Zagora with 3 each. The list also includes two secondary schools located in villages: Hristo Botev Secondary School in Banite Village (Smolyan region) and Chelopech Private Profile Secondary School with foreign language training (Sofia region). Ten of the schools are private. Only one district, Targovishte, has no representative in the hundred. She recorded the lowest results in Bulgarian, but was among the most successful in the second matura (mainly due to the success of graduates of the local high school in biology).
The four high schools with the highest results remain unchanged compared to 2019. Again in the top ten there are two schools outside of Sofia, but this year the “Plovdiv” and “John the Exarch” language secondary schools in Varna they have moved from schools in Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo. The table’s search engine allows additional filtering of information by city, as well as by school name.
Ratings by area: slightly higher
Average test results by areas can be seen on the interactive map below in the article. Specifying the area with the mouse displays data on the number of schools in the area, how many students have taken the exam, and what their average success rate is. To rank schools, data is averaged based on the number of students in each school and the average success of the school.
The map shows slightly higher results than last year; then, with a score between 3.50 and 4, there were 14 areas, and this year in this range there are students in four. On the other hand, the districts are increasing with a score between 4 and 4.50 – 22 against 13. Last year, only the city of Sofia had a success above 4.50, and Smolyan joins it. According to data from the Ministry of Education in 2020, the average for Bulgarian language and literature in the country is “Good” 4.20.
