According to an amendment in Art. 8 The Pre-school and School Education Act (PSEA) from 18.09.2020 pre-school education shall be compulsory from the school year, which begins in the year, in which the child reaches 4 years of age, where the parents shall choose one of the forms: in a whole day, half day, hour or in an independent organization, and the state and municipalities shall be obliged to provide conditions to scope the children in the kindergartens and the groups for pre-school education.
By the school year 2023-2024, all municipalities must have provided conditions for this, and until then the provision shall be applied for the children who reach 4 years of age in the respective calendar year, only in the settlements and the municipalities, which have provided the conditions for realization of the compulsory pre-school education in accordance with the requirements of the state educational standard for pre-school education and the state educational standard for the physical environment and the information and library provision for kindergartens, schools and personal development support centers after a decision of the respective municipal council, in coordination with the opinion of the parents or their guardians and with the possibility for maximum inclusion in the compulsory pre-school education of the children who have reached 4 years of age. (1) The legal entitlement to ECEC in the other municipalities shall be for children who have reached 5 years of age. Compulsory pre-school education, in addition to kindergartens, can also be provided to children who have reached 5 or 6 years of age, by schools, which may ensure conditions for this. For children aged 4, schools can provide pre-school education only when the settlement does not have a kindergarten.
For the children who are not in compulsory pre-school age, there is no legal guarantee to a place in ECEC. The criteria and the procedure for admission in the municipal kindergartens and nurseries are regulated by acts at the local level and may be different for the different municipalities.
The state provides funds for the parents of children from the age of three until their admission to the first grade to reimburse the costs directly related to their upbringing and education, when:
Pre-school education in kindergartens and nurseries can be realized in a whole day, half-day, hour or in an independent organization.
The whole day organization provides education, socialization, training and raising of children within 12 astronomical hours per day (60 hours per week) during the school year from September 15 to September 14 inclusive of the following calendar year. In the whole day organization in the school time alternate basic and additional, and in the non-school time - only additional forms of pedagogical interaction, providing conditions and time for play, rest, including afternoon sleep, meals and activities of the child's choice.
The half-day organization provides education, socialization, training and upbringing of the children within 6 consecutive astronomical hours a day (30 hours per week) before noon during the school year.
(1) § 17 PSEA
(2) Art. 283 (1) 11. PSEA
The hour organization provides education, socialization, training and raising of children aged 3 and 4 within 3 consecutive astronomical hours per day (15 hours per week) and is carried out only during school hours from September 15 to May 31 of the following calendar year. The hour organization is carried out together with the children in a group for all-day organization, and no more than 2 children can be included in one group.
Hourly, Saturday-Sunday and seasonal activities can be organized in the municipal kindergartens as an additional service for raising the children at the request of the parents and under conditions and by order, determined by an ordinance of the municipal council. Additional activities are paid by parents.
The independent organization (home-based) includes upbringing, socialization and training of the child, organized by the parent, and monitoring the achievements of the child from the kindergarten or school at the beginning and at the end of the school year. The independent organization shall be carried out at the stated wish of the parent for the respective school year and after approval by the expert commission at the regional governance of education. In the commission shall obligatorily participate a representative of the relevant Municipality and of the Social Assistance Agency. The parent must declare the existence of an environment for learning through play, consistent with the age and guaranteeing the overall development of the child, as well as for the protection of his physical and mental health and well-being and present a program for the child's development, which must include:
(a) selected methodologies and approaches that take into account the age, individual needs and interests of the child and ensure that the objectives of pre-school education are achieved;
(b) an indicative alignment of topics to achieve competences for the relevant age group;
c) a list of the selected cognitive books and learning aids. (3)
The compulsory pre-school education in the state and municipal kindergartens and schools is free of charge for the children. Parents of the children shall pay fees for payment of activities, which are not funded from the state budget, and for children in compulsory pre-primary education - only fees for activities related to meals outside what is state-funded (4), as well as extra activities if the child go (sports, art, foreign languages etc.)
The right to free education is exercised by not paying fees for education, provided by means from the state budget and the material basis for education and development of the interests and abilities of the children is used free. The activities in the pre-school and school educational system are financed by state budget funds, the municipality budgets, EU funds and programmes and other sources.
Funds from the state budget partially finance the activities for the upbringing, education, socialization and training of children in nursery groups in kindergartens and the upbringing, education, socialization and training of children from 2 to 3 years of age in groups in municipal and state kindergartens. For the use of nurseries and kindergartens for children who are not of compulsory pre-school age, outside the activities financed by the state and the municipality, monthly fees are collected by the parents or guardians, which are defined in regulations at the local level – Ordinances of each municipality. Fees are paid only for the time during which the child has actually attended the nursery or kindergarten.
The PSEA sets out measures to state support equal access of children to state / municipal kindergartens. Some of the measures are:
(3) Art 18 Ordinance N 5 of June 3, 2016 on Pre-school Education
(4) Art. 298 (2) PSEA
The children in compulsory pre-school age who are residing in the country, regardless of their citizenship, are provided with free education in Bulgarian language, as well as children and students seeking or receiving international protection in the country, in need of additional education in Bulgarian language.
For realization of the compulsory pre-school education of children the private kindergartens may received state subsidy. In this case they may carry out activities against payment only apart from the ones, funded by the state. The private kindergartens and private school, which are included in the system of state financing, shall provide possibility 20% of the children and school children, accepted in them, including children and school children with expressed gifts and/or special educational needs to be educated without payment of the activities financed by the state. Apart from these activities and groups of children, the Ordinance on the financing of institutions in the system of pre-school and school education establishes a methodology for determining the maximum amount of funds collected by parents of children and students from private kindergartens and schools included in the state funding system.
The state allocate funds to the kindergartens and school for the home-based ECEC for the children in pre-school age.