Story thread · 5 reports / 2 sources

Bulgaria Introduces September 15 as Start of School Year in 1921

bta.bg · 6h · first reportShare

On September 15, Bulgaria marks the start of the school year. The date was introduced in 1921 on the initiative of Stoyan Omarchovski, Minister of Public Education in the government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski, which was in office from 1920 to 1923. Until then, the first day of school fell on different dates depending on the type and location of the educational institution. Establishing a uniform start to the school year was linked to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in Bulgaria in April 1916, as well as the need for students from rural areas to take part in bringing in the agricultural harvest. In 1952, the start of the school year was moved to September 1, while the end of the school year was set for May 30. The change was part of a broader restructuring of the education system along Soviet lines, which also introduced four school terms and a five-point grading system. The model was subsequently deemed unsuitable for Bulgarian education, and in 1957, September 15 was once ag