The Negative Impact of the Pandemic on Children’s Education Drives More and More People to Become Teachers

Teach For Bulgaria is accepting applications for new teachers by March 25

After one semester of online learning, children were finally able to go back to school in September. The initial weeks of in-person learning made it quite obvious that many children were lagging behind because they had not been able to progress online. Interestingly, this motivated many people to become teachers, according to Teach For Bulgaria’s experience. The organization has noticed an increase in the number of applications for their “A New Way to Teaching” program which supports university graduates and professionals with diverse backgrounds to become teachers and work at schools located in 20 regions of the country.

Nearly 5000 people have expressed their interest in Teach For Bulgaria’s leadership and professional development program and over 2000 have already applied. The program typically appeals mainly to recent graduates or professionals with under 10 years of experience. This year, however, there has been a significantly larger number of applicants with teaching qualifications. 

The final deadline for applications is March 25.

“Many people who already have teaching experience and qualifications are drawn back to the teaching profession. The transition to online teaching made them realize how crucial teachers are, but also how dynamic and what a huge responsibility it is to work with students. It also showed how crucial it is for teachers to never stop learning and adapting. Our program “A New Way to Teaching” gives the participants an opportunity to build on the experience gained at university or in the course of their diverse careers. We also provide them with valuable professional support in order to help them become effective teachers regardless whether they’d have to teach online or in person,” shares Neli Kocheva, Head of Admissions at Teach For Bulgaria. 

Teach For Bulgaria has been working towards providing every child in Bulgaria with access to quality education and opportunities for development, regardless of their socio-economic status for 10 years now. “A New Way to Teaching” is our first and most successful program. The participants in this program receive access to specialized training sessions, mentorship, teaching qualifications, school placement, career development opportunities, useful resources, professional contacts and strong friendships. We even introduced special modules for effective online teaching into the program last year.

As we expected, the majority of our candidates come from the three biggest cities in Bulgaria – Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna. Veliko Tarnovo, Stara Zagora, and Ruse come right after that. 

All candidates go through a three-stage selection process before receiving an offer to join the program. Having a teaching qualification is not a requirement – our participants go through a university program, if they do not have any pedagogical qualifications. The only requirements are a bachelor’s degree and the motivation to work with students who need additional support. 

Teach For Bulgaria is going to work with partner schools in 20 different regions of the country – Varna, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo, Vratsa, Dobrich, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Silistra, Sliven, Sofia city, Sofia province, Stara Zagora, Targovishte, and Shumen. This depends on the teaching vacancies we receive from our partner schools and the profile of the participants in the program.