Effective teaching, support for the school teams and the importance of preschool education are the main topics of the annual Conference Education 2016.

The event will take place for two days: on 28th and 29th October at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Sofia. It will gather together representatives of institutions, civil and business organizations, schools and educational experts from Bulgaria and abroad.

What unites all those people is the goal to provide equal access to quality education to every child. The forum is held for the fifth consecutive year and is organized by Teach for Bulgaria Foundation and Education Bulgaria 2030, with the support of the European Commission, America for Bulgaria Foundation, Nestle Bulgaria and Forbes Bulgaria.

Education Conference 2016 will help all the attendants exchange experience and become inspired by successful good practices in the teaching shared by top experts on global level who will showcase their experience, approaches and innovations.

The conference will start on 28th October with a video message by the Bulgarian Euro Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva and a welcoming speech by Wendy Kopp, the CEO of the global educational network Teach for All.

The first panel for the day will highlight the situation and perspectives faced by the Bulgarian educational system. Among the panellists will be the Minister of Education and Science. Meglena Kouneva; Anna-Marie Vilamovska, secretary to the president for innovation and health policy, Yordanka Fandakova, Mayor of Sofia as well as business representatives such as Svetoslav Atanasov, the CEO of Coca-Cola, Bulgaria; and Silva Zourleva, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Nova Television. The panel will be moderated by Eva Paunova, a member of the European Parliament and one of the initiators of Education Bulgaria 2030 Association.

The second panel of the conference on Friday will pay attention to the importance of preschool education for the children from marginalized communities. Yost de Laat, an economist and manager of Learning and Evaluation Unit in Portikus Foundation, will give a speech on the topic. He is also the former program manager of the Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund (SIEF) of the World Bank and senior economist in education and social protection.

On Friday, the participants in the conference will have the chance to discuss the topic about innovations in training new teachers, with Mary Hammer as a speaker. She is the dean of the newly established Institute of Education in Great Britain.

Straight after the discussion panel, the participants will be able to attend one of the three workshops organized for the day, where to develop practical skills for innovative and effective teaching.

The second day of the conference will continue with the topic about the key factors for granting access to quality education to every child by considering the role of the school team of leaders in achieving the educational goals that will change the children’s lives.

Max Haimendorf, one of the youngest and most successful school principals in Great Britain, will share his experience with the attendees.The panellists who will participate while he is giving his speech will be Stefan Stoyanov, the deputy mayor in charge of Education, Business Development, European Policies and International Cooperation in Plovdiv, Daniela Ivanova – the principal of 202 Hristo Botev Primary School in the village of Dolni Pasarel and Antoaneta Kalenderova, the academic director of Drita Private Language School.

During the Conference of Education 2016, will be held a special exhibition of non-profits and companies working in the field of education.

On the website of the conference, you can find additional information about the speakers and detailed program of the event.