The sitting was attended by the President of the Municipality of Bosilegrad and President of the National Council of the Bulgarian National Minority in Serbia Vladimir Zaharijev, Vice-President of the Municipality and the National Council of the Bulgarian National Minority in Serbia Stefan Stojkov, representative of the Education Committee of the National Council of the Bulgarian National Minority Mile Samardzic and the principals of the elementary and high-schools on the territory of Bosilegrad, Dimitrovgrad and Babusnica.

The President of the Municipality of Bosilegrad and of the National Council of the Bulgarian National Minority in Serbia Vladimir Zaharijev informed the Committee members on the results and problems of the education of the Bulgarian national minority in Serbia. He highlighted the importance of the fact textbooks in the languages of national minorities are being printed again, after 30 years, and children, members of national minorities, have been given the opportunity to study in their native language.

The Vice-President of the Municipality of Bosilegrad and the National Council of the Bulgarian National Minority in Serbia Stefan Stojkov said that the origin of the Bulgarian national minority in Serbia dates back to the period after WW1 and today the population of the municipalities of Bosilegrad and Dimitrovgrad is predominantly Bulgarian. The Serbian Constitution guarantees the right to education in one’s native language, said Stojkov adding that the Bulgarian National Minority Council’s priority in the previous period was to draft and prepare textbooks in Bulgarian, a goal achieved rather successfully. Stefan Stojkov also said that the Council enjoys excellent cooperation with Bulgaria concerning university education of the Bulgarian national minority in Bulgaria. He added that the Bulgarian language is studied at the Belgrade University as a foreign language. Stojkov went on to emphasize the importance of the fact that Belgrade Business School had opened a department in Bosilegrad five years ago.

The principals of the elementary and high-schools from Bosilegrad, Dimitrovgrad and Babusnica also spoke with the Committee members. They said that the total number of Bulgarian language classes should be higher and the language classes, which were optional, should become a compulsory subject. They spoke about the quality of the education provided and the equipment of the schoolrooms. They emphasized the importance of printing textbooks in the native language.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Deputy Chairman Prof. Dr Ljubisa Stojmirovic, and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Fatmir Hasani, Djordje Kosanic and Nikola Savic.

The Committee sitting outside of the National Assembly seat, in Bosilegrad, was held with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) via project “Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia”.