Sofia University Rector, Prof. Ilchev and Bozhidar Danev, chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, signed the Agreement.
Prof. Ilchev noted that the document is of great importance to the University. He noted that the relations between the business and the University are good but can be improved. The Agreement ensures coordinated efforts in this direction for the next two years at the least, based on the fact that the Bulgarian Industrial Association has been working hard on solving the problems of the higher education, and the graduates' competencies in particular. The Agreement will support further improvement of the quality of higher education provided by the University, as well as active engagement of the Association in vocational training in different areas of business and administration.
The chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, Bozhidar Danev stressed on the importance of avoiding the discrepancy between the needs of the workforce market and the higher, vocational and professional secondary education. The Agreement aims to start the process of interrelating the educational programmes with the results of the Bulgarian Industrial Association project on identifying the specific competencies, business standards and soft skills acquisition. Joint projects, internship programmes and trainings are in the focus of the collaboration. Qualification courses, as well as testing and validation of tools for competency assessment, are also planned.
Sofia University and the Bulgarian Industrial Association will also develop and propose improvement of the law system in the field of education. Changes in the system of planning the admission in the state universities and adapting it to the social and business needs, changes in the system of funding the universities, as well as the financial support for higher education in order to guarantee higher quality of education are among the joint proposals.
