 On 25 November 2011 the Center for the Study of Democracy, with the support of the Open Society Foundation - Budapest and the Think Tank Fund, organized in Varna a round table on the topic "Civil Society in the System of Education and Culture". The round table aimed to encourage the sharing of best practices and finding of adequate solutions in the activities of the Bulgarian community centers (chitalishta) and the school boards.In light of the Law amending the Law on community centers (chitalishta) the participants discussed specific proposals, aiming at increasing the financial transparency and accountability, and improve the governance of community centers in Bulgaria. Furthermore, they elaborated on various problematic regulatory areas, which coordinate the activities of civil society organizations in the field of education. The round table was opened by Ms. Vera Stoykova, Director of the National Puppet Theatre in Varna.
 Mr. Todor Yalamov, Senior Analyst at the Economic Program of the Center for the Study of Democracy, presented the objectives of the discussion, while also introducing the aims, activities and the expected outcomes of the “Good Governance vs Civil Society Capture in Bulgaria” project, financed by the Open Society Institute, Varna. Mr. Yalamov highlighted the fact that during the last several years, we are witnessing rapid increase in the establishment of new associations and foundations, closely tied to influential political figures and economic groups, whose goal is the active absorption of resources, available under the European Structural Funds. Such processes are being stimulated by shady lobbying practices, as well as by shortcomings in the relevant legislation, which is requiring publicity and transparency of the NGOs` sector. Moreover, it has been revealed that there is a significant number of community centers, which do not comply with the minimum regulatory requirements for staffing. Among other issues, there are also the existing data discrepancies for community centers in the different national registers. The inability of national institutions to exercise effective control results in negative tendencies, related to inefficient public spending, while the governmental funding in the field is considerably high, when thought of in the context of a country, such as Bulgaria. Dr. Lubomir Kutin, Senior Analyst at the Center for the Study of Democracy, familiarized the participants with the results of the study, related to the legal framework, regulating the activities of the Bulgarian community centers. Among the major shortcomings as crucial was identified the lack of specific requirement for the community centers to be registered in the public interest. Being not registered in the interest of the public, such entities are not required to publicly report their activities, making their existence shady in the eyes of society. There is a lack of summarized information with regard to the funding of the municipalities` community centers. There is an emerging trend of registering community centers in cities, as well over-centralization of cultural processes. The location of a community center is not subject to additional conditions relating to availability of facilities that are fit to carry out the intended purposes, nor is it municipal- or state- owned. Dr. Kutin also presented specific data and examples for shortcomings of the Central Registry of the Ministry of Culture were.
 Ms. Daniela Koleva, Secretary of community center “Otec Paisii”, Varna, underlined the problems, arising from the frequent change in the regulatory framework and the requirements for big number of registrations that followed. The latest case was related to the Law on Money Laundering. In addition, maintenance and management of community centers with municipal or state ownership, which constitutes of the majority of them, involves very complex system of coordination with the relevant authorities. To a large degree, this prevents the management of the community centers from coming up with new initiatives, including rental and public-private partnership opportunities. Ms. Koleva also expressed her dissatisfaction with texts, part of the government`s draft amendments to the Law for the Community Centers (ZNCH), which limit rental opportunities for community center`s property. Mr. Dono Tzvetkov, Chairman of community center “Poriv” and Foundation “Oktritie”, highlighted the lack of requirements and standards with regard to the education level of the staff in community centers, as well as the lack of activities aimed at improving the skills and career development prospects for the people who work there. Ms. Dobrinka Dobreva, Secretary of “Vasil Levski – 1945” community center, Varna, pointed to the necessity of integrating categorization of community centers, which is to be based on a system of standards and assessments. Mr. Pavel Pavlov, Chief Expert at the Varna Municipality, expressed the general opinion that community centers should be legal entities with non-profit public objectives, in benefit to the public interest. In addition, restriction should be imposed with regard to public financing of NGOs, working in private interest. The second part of the discussion was dedicated to the topic of the citizens` participation in the sphere of common education. Dr. Lubomir Kutin presented data from European practices in the field of school management. He paid special attention to the school boards. According to a study, most school boards exist "in the twilight zone" - registered in the district courts, as required under the Education Act, but not registered in the Central Register of legal persons with non-profit public benefit. In the context of the Bulgarian educational legislation, there are not enough provided opportunities for the school boards to act as a corrective for the activities of schools. They are not treated as a necessary element of the educational system, but only as an option, depending on voluntary initiative. School boards` format of existence, only as "parent committees", prevents them from exercising a more serious public representation and from existing as organizations with clearly defined and structured strategic objectives.
Ms. Daniela Petkova, Head of Department "Inspection and Organizational and Methodological Activity" stated that the possibility of more active involvement of school boards in the educational process is being discussed in the context of the upcoming draft Law on Education. Ms. Petkova recommended that community centers examine in greater detail the experience of the standards, established for the purposes of school education, which are directly tied to their funding. She also proposed of the use of delegated rights, granted to school directors, by which they can dispose of municipal or state property. In addition, Ms. Petkova stressed the importance of active cooperation between schools and community centers in pursuit of common objectives.
Ms. Margarita Miteva, Secretary of Secondary School for Foreign Languages “Ioan Ekzarh`s” school board, Varna, provided the participants with examples of experiences and best practices developed through active and voluntary participation of parents, professionals in various fields of social life.
Mr. Hristo Dipchikov, Director of the National School of Arts "Dobri Hristov," highlighted the major potential role of parents, as the real and daily adjustment of the educational activity in Bulgaria. Agenda (Adobe PDF, 171 KB, in Bulgarian) |
