The Communists made a real effort to establish a far-reaching network of kindergartens, which in the late 1940s included three types: the half day, all day, and seasonal. No tuition was required for the half day kindergarten, and tuition varied—depending on the income of the family—for the other two types.
Half day kindergartens accepted children after six years of age, preparing them for admission to elementary schools. All day kindergartens, which were located in large towns and industrial areas, cared for children, aged three to seven, of working mothers. Seasonal kindergartens were established in rural areas for the children of mothers whose work was seasonal. These schools operated from two to ten months per year and also accepted children from three to seven years of age.
In mid-1973 there were crèches for children from infancy to three years of age. Children from three to seven attended kindergarten. Although attendance was voluntary, it was believed that over 60 percent of the preschool-age children were enrolled in crèches or kindergartens. Approximately 50 percent of the children in elementary school have had their preschool education in the half day kindergartens. There were five types of kindergartens in Bulgaria: the half day, the all day, the seasonal, the kindergarten sanatoriums and the auxiliary kindergarten. Kindergarten sanatoriums provided educational facilities for children with tuberculosis, and auxiliary kindergartens were for the mentally deficient.
Elementary Education
Before the Communists took power, there were primary schools for children between seven and eleven and progymnasia for children eleven to fourteen years old. Although both levels of education were compulsory according to the law, many children between the ages of seven and fourteen did not attend school. The program of the progymnasium was to enable children—who might be excluded from either a gymnasium or vocational school for economic or academic reasons—to obtain additional education beyond the primary level.
After 1944 the Communists undertook a major revision of elementary education in accordance with their basic principles of education (see Communist Educational Policies, this ch.). In 1950 a new unified school system was established, patterned after the educational system of the Soviet Union. This unified, eleven-year system comprised both primary and postprimary education. In 1954 the Edict on Public Education stated that the first eight years of this new general education were compulsory for children from seven to fifteen years of age. Depending on the particular needs of the individual community, children could attend either four-year, seven-year, or eleven-year general education schools. Generally, the four-year schools predominated in rural areas, and the seven-year and eleven-year schools were more prevalent in larger villages and towns.
Elementary education is still compulsory for both boys and girls from seven to fifteen years of age. Classes are held in the morning only and run six days a week, Monday through Saturday. The schools are known as basic or general schools and include not only elementary education but also the first two phases of the eleven-year polytechnic school. The elementary course comprises grades one through four, and the postelementary courses include classes five through eight. The elementary curriculum includes the study of Bulgarian, mathematics, music, art, and physical education. The postelementary curriculum also encompasses the study of foreign languages and science. On both levels the study of Russian is compulsory.
The purpose of this general elementary education, according to the government, is to "provide pupils with general and polytechnic education combined with fundamental moral, physical and aesthetic training, instill in children a liking for work, accustom them to productive work useful to society and prepare them for studies at a higher level." In accordance with these principles "education in labor" was made an integral part of the curriculum. The total curriculum of elementary education consists of a tripartite division. The academic section is subdivided into the sciences and the humanities. The education in the labor section consists of work, beginning in the first year of schooling, in shops, farms, and factories. The extracurricular section is dominated by the work-study program of the youth organization known as the Pioneers (see ch. 9).
Secondary Education
Before 1944 secondary education in Bulgaria consisted of the gymnasium and the vocational school. The gymnasium was divided into three types: the classical, the semiclassical, and the scientific. All three included the following subjects in their curriculum: Bulgarian language and literature; either French, German, or English; philosophy; mathematics; history; the history of Christianity; geography; sociology; civics; physics; and chemistry. In the scientific and classical divisions, natural history and drawing were also given, and Latin and Greek were presented in the classical and semiclassical gymnasiums. There was also a normal school, or pedagogical part of the gymnasium, which added pedagogy and physical education to the basic curriculum.