The first private Chinese school is to open in Bulgaria – it may sound as an exotic idea but according to its creators knowledge of eastern languages ​​will become increasingly important in the future.

Sixty children from first to the twelfth grade will this autumn become students of the newly opened private high school “Evlogi and Hristo Georgievi” in the capital city of Sofia. There are also preparatory classes for five-year-old children. What makes Chinese language the major focus of the new school? More from Nikolay Yalamov, president of the Zahari Stoyanov Foundation which along with the University of St. Kliment Ohridski is the basis of the project:

“Chinese language is very promising for the future careers of our students, because Chinese business and Chinese culture should not be underestimated and knowledge about China could be very beneficial for them. Moreover, China's economic presence in the world continues to grow. In Bulgaria there are few public schools with classes in Chinese and our ambition is to be the first private Chinese language school. Of course, it will not be the only foreign language – there will be classes in English, as well as other languages in the future.”

Education in the school will be supported by Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski through its Confucius Institute. The main activity of the institute is teaching Chinese language and culture. Students will be selected after an interview with the school principal and a psychologist.

“Besides the University of Sofia, we have a contract with the Confucius Institute, which will provide all textbooks for free,” Nikolay Yalamov says. “In the autumn a Chinese teacher will also come to help children learn the language. The Confucius Institute will also take care for the future visits of our students to China, and the costs to parents will be limited to the ticket as everything else will be paid by China. We have agreed that each child will have the opportunity to visit the country once a year for two weeks.”

The school will work in cooperation with the Lanzhou University - the agreement provides for scholarships for the university’s language programs. Are students interested in studying in the new school?

“People show interest but parents still have some worries because the school is a new one,” says Nikolay Yalamov. “However, there is a lot of interest towards our strategy for fast learning of Chinese language. The local Chinese community on the other hand does not show any interest. Maybe they would wait until we establish a successful school.”

Currently about two thousand children in Bulgaria have been studying Chinese language at school. Some of them want to continue their education in China. In recent years, China has been enjoying the interest of young people from all continents, including Europe - more than 300,000 foreigners study in Chinese universities. One of the main reasons is that the Chinese economy needs experts who have completed their education in China and are familiar with the local culture and business environment. Bulgarian youth can also become part of this process.

English: Alexander Markov