14.04.2019
The Central Foyer of Sofia University’s Rectorate was the venue at which the "Your future is here. Success is in Bulgaria" initiative was launched. With it, the country’s oldest higher education institution aims to attract more people from the business, to provide more practical knowledge to its students and to motivate them to seek successful careers in Bulgaria.
In this project, Sofia University and the business join hands in support of the mission of creating more opportunities and for offering quality education and attractive career choices in Bulgaria. Members of the initiative’s Board of Trustees are the Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Assoc. Prof. Teodor Sedlarski, Metodi Georgiev, Executive Director of Cargill Bulgaria, Maxim Mayer, Editor-in-Chief of the “Manager” Magazine, Dessy Banova-Plevnelieva.
The project includes a series of interesting events with guest lecturers, mentoring hours, open days in partner companies that aim to create incentives for young talented people to stay in Bulgaria and work for the future of the country.
Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Denitsa Sacheva, opened the event and said that the connection between education and business is being discussed on all levels of secondary and tertiary education. In her words, this is quite natural, because the battles in the contemporary world are two: for young people and for innovation. It is, thus, quite natural for business and the university to seek partnerships with each other and to strive after perfection in their attemtps to attract young people and creating innovation, Ms Sacheva said.
The Deputy Minister said she was glad that Sofia University is not only the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria but that it also continues to be a university with an innovative spirit. Denitsa Sacheva proudly remarked that she was an alumna: "It is a great pleasure to know that the university I graduated from continues to be a leader in the field of educational initiatives. I think that the link between education and business is extremely important, and of course, it is bilateral, because through the mutual exchange of information, knowledge and innovation awareness, students gain a lot, but so do teachers who gain the opportunity of getting into contact with a real business environment and with practice and thus also get the chance to become the most highly appreciated teachers at their universities. "
She expressed her satisfaction that the initiative encourages young people to stay in Bulgaria, something that is extremely important. According to her, the business environment in our country is changing dynamically and needs highly qualified specialists, from whom innovation, creativity and many other skills are expected.
Mrs. Sacheva expressed her hope that within this initiative really successful models are found that would give Bulgarian students high-quality, cutting-edge modern education and that would, at the same time, allow them to see prospects for development in our country. At the end of her speech she wished the initiative success.
The Alma Mater Rector, Prof. Anastas Gerdjikov, said that Sofia University has always gladly supported, hosted, organised and co-organised such initiatives. According to him, the reasons for this are three: "The university supports every initiative that stimulates cooperation between higher education and business. Secondly, the quality of education is of key importance to us, and achieving it is not possible without such cooperation. And last but not least, Alma Mater supports every initiative that convinces young people that their place is here, that in Bulgaria they can get a good career choice, that they can be helped with their career development and that they can realise their potential as professionals in the best way".
In the words of the Rector of Sofia University, this means, on the one hand, that young people have to be able to expand their abilities, knowledge and skills which would make them adequate to the requirements of the labor market; on the other hand, of course, it means that they have to find the profession that makes them happy. It is then, that one feels really fulfilled. “It isn’t only the high salary and good working conditions that are important; it is also important to feel good and in your place. I think that man feels best at home, in one’s home country. That's why this initiative is an important one. And all the initiatives that can help our students to find themselves here will be supported by Sofia University", Prof. Gerdjikov said at the end of his speech and wished success, expressing his confidence that this was only the beginning of a long project.
Assoc. Prof. Teodor Sedlarski, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, said that for young people who are fluent in foreign languages, have digital skills and work with the new economy, it is clear that it is precisely in Bulgaria that they have really good chances for fast career development. He reminded his audience that with its long-time partner, Cargill Bulgaria, the Faculty of Economics has realised a number of successful projects and he pointed out that they have an idea of how to attract more and more partners for designing joint programs and others.
Prof. Sedlarski commented on the importance of cooperation between universities and businesses in the preparation of highly qualified staff for the current conditions of the labor market. "The best training is practice-related: students need to be able to apply their knowledge and only then all of us who are part of this process - teachers, students, and now employers - can be assured that the training of the future specialists is really comprehensive and valuable, "said Prof. Sedlarski and wished a lot of energy to the team and good luck.
Metodi Georgiev, Executive Director of Cargill Bulgaria, presented his personal experience and the experience of his family. He stressed that he had chosen to return to Bulgaria, although he had a successful career abroad. He found that there are opportunities for professional fulfillment, as well as good educational programs. "20 years later I do not regret my choice. What I have accomplished is through education, hard work and luck, "he said, and expressed his and his team's confidence that young people today can do what they want in a place where they feel good. And this is Bulgaria.
Metodi Georgiev also noted that the business now provides more and more interesting opportunities for young people to unfold their potential. According to him, this is the reason why Cargill Bulgaria should stand behind this initiative: "We have many reasons to tell the young people to stay in Bulgaria - education is increasingly related to business. But for me one of the main reasons is that young people can be successful. They want and can be successful in Bulgaria ". According to him, Bulgaria as an emerging market provides many opportunities compared to the developed countries in Western Europe and a successful career in our country can always be transformed into an successful international career, Georgiev noted.
Desi Banova-Plevnelieva also congratulated the participants for the initiative and pointed out that she is happy to support it: "I think Bulgaria is really a wonderful place for professional fulfillment, education and life." She presented her project, "Success Stories", on which she has worked and within which she has had the chance to meet young, beautiful and intelligent people who have achieved great success, precisely in Bulgaria. She urged business representatives to support young people.
During the official opening data was presented from a survey of young people's views on higher education in Bulgaria and abroad, their attitudes regarding their personal future development in the country or abroad. The results show that both higher education and professional fulfilment abroad are rated as slightly better than those in Bulgaria. Quite the contrary, however, is the opinion of young people about the potential for career development, with only 12% believing that it is better abroad compared to 32%, who think they will have the opportunity to build a good career in our country.
According to the survey data, the requirements that young professionals have towards employers, besides high salary, are the opportunities for professional development, personal comfort, social benefits and the social responsibility of the company they work in.
Author: TV Alma Mater
The Alma Mater Rector, Prof. Anastas Gerdjikov, said that Sofia University has always gladly supported, hosted, organised and co-organised such initiatives. According to him, the reasons for this are three: "The university supports every initiative that stimulates cooperation between higher education and business. Secondly, the quality of education is of key importance to us, and achieving it is not possible without such cooperation. And last but not least, Alma Mater supports every initiative that convinces young people that their place is here, that in Bulgaria they can get a good career choice, that they can be helped with their career development and that they can realise their potential as professionals in the best way".
In the words of the Rector of Sofia University, this means, on the one hand, that young people have to be able to expand their abilities, knowledge and skills which would make them adequate to the requirements of the labor market; on the other hand, of course, it means that they have to find the profession that makes them happy. It is then, that one feels really fulfilled. “It isn’t only the high salary and good working conditions that are important; it is also important to feel good and in your place. I think that man feels best at home, in one’s home country. That's why this initiative is an important one. And all the initiatives that can help our students to find themselves here will be supported by Sofia University", Prof. Gerdjikov said at the end of his speech and wished success, expressing his confidence that this was only the beginning of a long project.