On the eve of 24 May - the Day of the Bulgarian Alphabet, Enlightenment and Culture, Assoc. Prof. Krasimir Nedyalkov, PhD - President of Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" and the Rector - Prof. Petar Hristov, PhD were interviewed by a team of the BGNES Information Agency.
About the university, students’ professional perspectives, partnerships with higher education institutions in the European Union, the state of Bulgarian education and the challenges ahead.
 
BGNES  team
 
In Bulgaria, there are "temples" of knowledge and science, where personal achievements and high educational qualifications are placed on a pedestal. This fully applies to one of the largest private universities in Bulgaria - Varna Free University (VFU) "Chernorizets Hrabar".
VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" partners with over 130 higher education institutions from the EU and globally. For 30 years now, it has been a European model of private higher education institution, educating nearly 5,000 students in more than 60 bachelor's,  master's and 29 PhD programmes, and is in the 4th place in Bulgaria in terms of admissions of 1st-year students. The university is investing in its development, currently building its own power plant.

About the university and the state of Bulgarian education, as well as the future challenges facing the education system in our country, BGNES Agency spoke with Assoc. Prof. Krasimir Nedyalkov, PhD - President of Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" and the Rector - Prof. Petar Hristov, PhD.

The main reason for the unsatisfactory state of Bulgarian education is its insufficient funding from the state. Artificial intelligence has many dangers if it caters to business interests and their political lobbies. The future challenges for the education system are the difficulty of the academic community to respond to the rapidly changing economic demands, the demographic crisis and the unfair competition in which the state places public and private universities. This was stated by the two erudites in the city of Varna to a BGNES reporter.

The President of the university, Assoc. Prof. Krasimir Nedyalkov, told about the history of the university and its establishment.

"Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" was established in 1991 by a group of Bulgarian academic enthusiasts with the idea of taking the first steps in the field of private higher education. It was created with the serious support of Professor George Vredeveld and the first majors opened at the university are economics and management, fully aligned with the programmes of the University of Cincinnati," he informed.
In 1995, the university received the status of a higher education institution and first institutional accreditation in 2001. It holds the prestigious labels of the European Commission - DS Label, ECTS Label and HR Logo and is among the first three Bulgarian universities to sign the Great Charter of Universities "Magna Charter 2020" - for academic freedom and independence.

"In terms of the amount of students we admit to the university, Law and Psychology are in the first place. But we also have majors that are much less numerous, but on the other hand, they are one of the most crowded compared to other universities - Choreography is among them," informed the Rector of the university, Prof. Petar Hristov.

The percentage of graduates with a law degree who work in the field of law is very high, almost 100%, he also says.






Assoc. Prof. Nedyalkov announced exact figures. In the Faculty of International Economics and Administration, 57% were the students who pursue careers according to their majors, 72% in law, 80% in national security, among them there are 2,000 active officers in the Ministry of the Interior, 84% in architecture, among them 21 chief architects in municipalities, and 90 % in Arts.
The Rector himself gave proof of the innovativeness of Varna Free University.

"We were the first to introduce the National Security major in the country, we were the first to start developing a circular economy together with our partners from the United States, and in traditional majors we strive to be at the level of the best," he assured.

The university partners with higher education institutions from the EU and a large number of countries outside it, having concluded collaborations with over 130 higher education institutions and for this year 18 new contracts were signed with universities from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Poland, the USA, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. We also work under programmes Horizon, Black Sea Basin 2014-2020, cross-border cooperation programme Danube 2014-2020, Erasmus Mundus, Scientific Research Fund, etc.

"The closest immediate investment is due to be completed within the next month. In view of the rising prices for the maintenance of our activities, we built our own power plant on the roof of the university," announced Associate Professor Nedyalkov.

The latest joint project of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" is with the universities of Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Ostrava and Žilina, primarily related to the field of security - fire emergency safety in construction.

"Some countries and universities with which 20 years ago we were on the same level, but now they are much ahead of us. It's just that the environment for development is more favourable for them," the Rector said.

On the painful issue of the level of Bulgarian education and what needs to be done to raise it, Professor Hristov is definite.

"There is a lot of criticism of education in Bulgaria, and it is hardly claimed that it is the cause of all other problems. But there is an interesting fact. There are no students who graduated from Bulgarian universities who went to European Union countries and did not find a job in their specialty. But the main reason for the unsatisfactory state - the underfunding of higher education - must be removed."
According to him, there is very strong state regulation, but research shows that in recent years, about 66% of investments in higher education are private.

"They are generated above all from student fees, not only in private universities, but also in public ones, which in certain cases reach the fees paid in private ones," said the professor, adding that he hopes some politicians may pay attention to this fact.





Professor Hristov also emphasised the fact that, as he said, there are practically no universities in the "educational" category in Bulgaria. Instead, the state has turned to the so-called "research" universities in which very large investments are made. Business also has little interest in educational universities and makes investments in laboratories and other material base of this type.

"But attention should be paid to the fact that educational universities are the backbone of higher education in the United States," added the chancellor.
He also pointed out another problem.

"There is research that shows that between 50 and 70% of students now entering higher education will work in occupations that do not yet exist. And with us, it is so operationally determined that it takes 6 years to prepare a new type of specialist in a new specialty - accreditation, then 4 years of training, a master's degree. After 6 years, these specialties may no longer be needed on the market," said Hristov.
Professor Hristov also sees a problem in artificial intelligence, which is increasingly entering various fields, including education. But not in its essence as such, but rather in the preparation for its introduction by legislation and policy.

 “I'm a national security lecturer. One of the main categories in the field of security is challenge. Challenges are those things that come into practice, the purpose of which is to make people's lives much better, to make production much more efficient, to improve the quality of life. But at the same time, they have the potential, if used maliciously or incompetently, to harm us no less than what they can give as a positive effect," he stated.
And here, according to him, the "golden ratio" should be found.

"Indeed, artificial intelligence has many dangers. But still, it is a model set by humans. Politicians, legislators – they must be prepared, or at least the experts they use. I believe that the human intellect has sufficient abilities to solve this problem, as long as business interests and their political lobby are not confused," the professor is convinced.

When asked whether artificial intelligence could threaten the security of a country, Prof. Hristov answered emphatically: "Naturally."

Among the challenges facing our education system in the future, the President of VFU Assoc. Prof. Nedyalkov singled out several. The first, according to him, is the discrepancy in the speed of development of the economy, of the industrial boom, and the speed with which the academic community manages to respond to this demand. In the second place, according to Assoc. Prof. Nedyalkov, is the strong demographic crisis.

"In the next few years, it will not be so noticeable, but according to a Eurostat study, in 2080, Bulgaria will decrease by another 37%," he said.

The third challenge is the extremely unfair competition in which the state places public and private universities, which creates countless obstacles for private universities.

"For example, Varna Free University, with the support of several other private universities, in the first 15 years of its existence fought for the state to take over the students' insurance while they were studying," he reported.





"There is interest in Bulgarian universities abroad," assured the Rector. He gave as an example the Medical University in Varna, where many students from Germany study and receive a quality that helps them pursue careers as doctors there.

"The problem is different. We have accepted about 50 students from Africa this year - only one has come so far. Because the visa problem is not moving in any way. Years ago, a large group from Sri Lanka wanted to study restaurant and hotel management. For almost a year, we have not been able to solve the visa problem. And this whole group admitted at nearly twice the fee in Italy," he backed up his words with evidence.
And where does he see Varna Free University in 10 years? Professor Petar Hristov is an optimist.

​"Our university has the opportunity in 10 years to be a model for a small or medium-sized higher education institution, not only for Bulgaria. At least we have one competitive advantage, that is where we are located - on the coast, next to the best beach in Varna, an ideal climate, a large material base with the possibility to modernise it, to attract lecturers not only from Bulgaria, who will be at a high level . All this is completely within our capabilities and I hope that it will be implemented", concluded the Rector of Varna Free University with hope.