Български
EnglishThe Council of Ministers updated the lists of protected professions and those with an expected shortage of specialists in order to provide additional funding for key specialties and to meet the needs of the labor market.
Update of the Lists and Regulatory Changes
The National Agency for Vocational Education and Training announced a public consultation for the new lists, which will come into effect from the 2026/2027 school year. According to the regulatory framework, these lists are subject to a mandatory update every two years. The project of the Ministry of Education and Science envisages exactly 28 specialties to be included in the list of state-protected professions. Among them are traditional crafts and specific industrial profiles such as "Luthiery", "Stonemasonry", "Cellulose and Paper Technologies", and "Ship Electrical Systems".
In parallel, the institutions are also establishing a list of 46 professions in which a serious shortage of personnel on the labor market is expected. This includes key areas for the industry:
- Automotive engineering and mechatronics
- Welding technologies and systems
- Footwear production
- Digital furniture and interior design
- Electric power engineering
Incentives for Schools and Students
The inclusion of a given specialty in these lists guarantees additional state funding for the entire duration of the training. This status provides educational institutions with the opportunity to form classes with a smaller number of students, with the required minimum lowered to just 9 children. This is critically important for the survival of rare specialties that are vital to the domestic economy, towards which interest is initially weaker.
In food industry classes, students acquire skills in technology and laboratory control, with their interest often sparked by interactive methods and real video materials from production. To meet the business's systemic hunger, from next year the state is moving the profession "Production of meat and meat products, fish and fish products" to the list of protected professions. Currently, it is studied in only four schools across the entire country.
Demands of Business and Employer Organizations
Within the framework of public consultations, employers and industry organizations express strong concern over the chronic deficit of trained specialists.
| Industry Organization | Problem and Demand | Decision of the Institutions |
|---|---|---|
| Association of Meat Processors | Over 70% of enterprises have a shortage of personnel (slaughterers, deboners), operating at up to 20% below their capacity. They want protection for meat processing. | The profession is included in the protected ones. |
| Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association | There is a lack of technicians for complex medical equipment in 341 hospitals and over 1,100 laboratories. Training is available in only 3 high schools. | The profession "Medical Equipment" receives support. |
| National Chamber of Crafts | Crafts like "Silicate Design" require expensive infrastructure (kilns, studios) and are on the verge of extinction. | The profession is preserved through state support. |
Meat processors also insist on creating a mechanism for the official validation of skills of workers who are trained directly in enterprises through mentorship.
Strict Criteria and Rejected Proposals
Despite the mass shortage of labor in various sectors, the Ministry of Education and Science applies strict criteria and rejects some of the submitted demands.
Proposals to include the new specialty "Sustainable Fashion" were rejected, as enrollment for it is just starting and there is a lack of objective statistical data regarding the career realization of the graduates. The request to add "Logistics Services" alongside "Freight Forwarding Services" was also denied, as the general finding of a shortage in a given sector does not automatically prove the need for state protection for a specific profession. The institutions emphasize that the availability of short-term courses for individuals over 16 years old is a flexible enough tool for some of the sectors like furniture production, without placing an additional burden on the school education system.
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