Bulgaria is changing quickly. Sofia is growing, new companies are arriving, salaries are rising, the technology sector is expanding and infrastructure is being modernised. The country entered the euro area in 2026 and is moving, step by step, closer to Europe’s economic core. On the surface, there are many signs of a country moving forward.
But at the same time, there is another development that should concern us far more than yet another political crisis, a delayed motorway project or another debate about the state budget.
It is about the children.
And about what they are actually capable of doing as they approach adulthood.
On 8 September 2026, the OECD presented the results of PISA 2025. For Bulgaria, the message was difficult to ignore. The country’s 15-year-olds scored an average of 421 points in science, 405 in mathematics and 387 in reading. The OECD averages were 482, 463 and 461 respectively. Compared with PISA 2022, Bulgaria fell by twelve points in mathematics and eighteen points in reading. Science remained largely unchanged. (OECD)
It is easy to look at figures like these and think that this is simply another international school ranking.
It is not.
At its core, this is about what kind of Bulgaria will exist ten, twenty or thirty years from now.
More than half do not reach the basic level
World Population Review’s current PISA page still shows the 2022 results. There, Bulgaria recorded 417 points in mathematics, 421 in science and 404 in reading — already well below many other European countries. (World Population Review)
But PISA 2025 shows that reading, in particular, has deteriorated further.
The most worrying figure is not really the average score.
It is what lies behind it.
Only 42 per cent of Bulgaria’s 15-year-olds reach at least Level 2 in reading. That means roughly 58 per cent are below what the OECD considers the basic level of functional reading proficiency. In mathematics, 43 per cent reach Level 2 or above. In science, the figure is 53 per cent. (OECD)
What does Level 2 mean?
It is not about analysing Shakespeare or solving advanced algebra. In reading, it includes being able to identify the main idea in a text of moderate length, locate relevant information and understand the purpose of the text.
These are skills people need every day.
To understand an employment contract.
To read instructions at work.
To understand information from public authorities.
To assess a news article.
To understand the interest rate on a loan.
To decide whether a claim on social media actually appears credible.
When almost six out of ten 15-year-olds do not reach that basic level, it is no longer simply a problem for the Ministry of Education.
It is a problem for society as a whole.
We talk a lot about digitalisation – but less about understanding
There is something almost paradoxical about the situation.
We live in a time when people have never had access to so much information. A young person with a smartphone in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bansko or Vidin can access more knowledge in seconds than the world’s greatest libraries could offer only a few decades ago.
But access to information is not the same as the ability to understand it.
PISA 2025 also reveals something interesting about the digital classroom. Bulgarian students report using digital devices for an average of 1.6 hours per school day for learning purposes, almost identical to the OECD average of 1.7 hours.
At the same time, they report 2.2 hours per school day of digital use for leisure activities. The OECD average is 1.1 hours.
As many as 42 per cent of Bulgarian students also say that other students’ use of digital devices frequently distracts them from learning. (OECD)
Technology has clearly entered the classroom.
But the question is whether concentration came with it.
This matters far beyond Bulgaria. Europe has long had an almost automatic assumption that more digitalisation means more modern education. Computers, tablets, digital platforms and now AI-based tools are often treated as solutions in themselves.
But a screen does not teach a child how to think.
Teaching does.
And above all, the curiosity that good teaching can awaken.
A country with two educational realities
At the same time, Bulgaria has another problem, one that is much older than the smartphone.
Children’s opportunities differ dramatically depending on where they are born and into what kind of family.
PISA 2025 shows that the most socioeconomically advantaged quarter of Bulgarian students score 101 points higher in science than the least advantaged quarter. The OECD average for the same gap is 85 points. (OECD)
Behind the national average, there are therefore several different Bulgarias.
There are schools in Sofia where students grow up with educated parents, international contacts, private tutoring, computers, books and language courses.
Then there are children in smaller towns and poorer regions where the reality looks completely different.
The European Commission’s 2026 Bulgaria report points to continuing school segregation, especially affecting Roma children, major regional disparities and problems with early school leaving among vulnerable groups and in rural areas. The Commission describes weak basic skills and inequality as structural obstacles to Bulgaria’s future competitiveness. (European Commission)
In practice, this means that a child’s postcode can still shape their future more than a modern European education system should accept.
But the problem is bigger than poverty
At the same time, it would be far too simple to explain everything through poverty.
Bulgaria has extraordinarily talented young people. The country produces skilled programmers, doctors, engineers, mathematicians, musicians, entrepreneurs and researchers.
The problem is not an absence of talent.
The problem is what happens to the broad majority.
Only around one per cent of students reach the highest levels in reading in PISA 2025, compared with six per cent across the OECD. In mathematics, three per cent are top performers, compared with eight per cent across the OECD. (OECD)
That means the education system is struggling both to support the weakest students and to develop more of the strongest students to a truly high level.
Perhaps that should change the question itself.
Not:
What is wrong with the students?
But:
What is it in the system that prevents so many students from reaching their potential?
The classroom tells part of the story
PISA offers some clues.
Bulgarian teachers receive relatively positive feedback from students in several areas. Seventy-one per cent say their teacher shows an interest in each student’s learning, and 72 per cent say their teacher continues teaching until students understand.
So the problem does not appear to be simply a lack of commitment from teachers.
But the working environment inside classrooms is considerably more difficult.
Thirty-four per cent of students say they cannot work properly in most or all science lessons. Forty-one per cent report disruptive noise and disorder, and 47 per cent say their classmates do not listen to the teacher. (OECD)
In addition, around 48 per cent reported skipping at least one full day of school during the two weeks before the PISA test. (OECD)
It is difficult to build advanced education on top of poor attendance, weak concentration and a classroom environment where teaching is regularly disrupted.
School now has to compete for young people’s attention
One of the most interesting figures in the entire PISA report is not really about mathematics at all.
It is about curiosity.
Sixty per cent of Bulgarian students say they are curious about many different things. The OECD average is 73 per cent. Only half say they make an extra effort when the work becomes difficult.
Between 2022 and 2025, the share of Bulgarian students describing themselves as curious also fell by 11.5 percentage points. (OECD)
Perhaps that should be one of the most discussed figures of all.
Because what happens to a society when children become less curious?
Education can never be only about transferring information. Information is already everywhere.
The most important task of the modern school must instead be to teach people how to ask questions, investigate, doubt, verify, understand connections and want to know more.
That becomes even more important when modern digital tools can provide ready-made answers within seconds.
The competitive advantage of the future may no longer belong to the person who has memorised the most facts.
It may belong to the person who knows how to ask the best question — and how to understand the answer.
Bulgaria needs its young people more than many other countries do
There is also a demographic dimension that makes the issue especially important here.
Bulgaria has for many years experienced a shrinking and ageing population. The labour market is already under considerable pressure. In 2026, the European Commission noted that unemployment had fallen to 3.5 per cent in 2025 and that labour shortages existed across many sectors. At the same time, the Commission explicitly linked skills shortages to weak educational outcomes and a shrinking workforce. (European Commission)
This means Bulgaria has less room for educational failure than larger countries.
Every young person will be needed.
Every potential engineer, electrician, nurse, entrepreneur, teacher, programmer, mechanic, journalist and craftsman or craftswoman who does not receive the right opportunities is not only a personal loss.
It is a national loss.
The OECD describes the same problem from an economic perspective. Bulgarian incomes are converging towards richer OECD economies, but the productivity gap remains significant. The organisation therefore points directly to better educational outcomes as an important part of Bulgaria’s long-term competitiveness. (OECD)
The positive side is that this can be changed
It would be wrong to describe the situation as hopeless.
Bulgaria is implementing reforms. Teacher salaries have increased and starting salaries have been linked to 125 per cent of the national average wage. The government is financing professional development and attempting to make teaching more attractive to younger people. (OECD)
But money is only part of the solution.
There also needs to be a serious discussion about what school is actually supposed to do.
Less mechanical repetition.
More problem-solving.
More reading.
More conversation.
More critical thinking.
A stronger connection between what students learn in school and the world outside the classroom.
And perhaps above all: a school that succeeds in making children feel that knowledge actually matters.
Because the greatest risk may not be that a 15-year-old scores 387 points in an international test.
The greatest risk is that the same 15-year-old leaves school believing that learning has nothing to do with him or her.
The Bulgaria of the future is already sitting in a classroom
A great deal is being built in Bulgaria right now.
New homes. New roads. New companies. New digital services. New business models.
These things are visible, and therefore easy to measure.
But the most important infrastructure in any country cannot be seen from the motorway.
It exists inside people’s minds.
PISA is not a judgement on Bulgarian young people. It is not an IQ test, and it does not measure creativity, empathy, courage, practical ability or entrepreneurship.
But the results function as a warning light.
When almost six out of ten 15-year-olds do not reach the basic level of reading proficiency, that light should no longer be flashing discreetly.
It is glowing red.
Bulgaria still has time to change the direction of travel. The country has people, resources, international connections and economic opportunities that barely existed a generation ago.
But the future is not created on the day a new company opens an office in Sofia.
It is created much earlier.
It is created when a child opens a book, encounters a problem that at first seems impossible and continues trying anyway.
It is created when a teacher succeeds in awakening one simple question:
“Why?”
And when the child is not satisfied until they understand the answer.
By Chris...
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