Public transport strike in Bulgaria’s capital complicates arrangements for school-leaving exams
The continuing public transport strike in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia, which reached its fifth day on May 18, is creating difficulties for arrangements for the school-leaving examinations to be taken by thousands of pupils in the city next week.
Practice in Bulgaria is for school-leavers to write their matriculation exams at venues other than their own schools, meaning that thousands of pupils must criss-cross the city to reach the exam halls.
The public transport strike – involving buses, trolleybuses and trams but not the metro underground railway – is complicating arrangements for pupils to travel.
On May 17, Education Minister Krassimir Vulchev, who a day earlier ordered the formation of a special headquarters to deal with the situation, said that options were being sought and work done to ensure that pupils get to the exam venues.
By May 18, a total of 54 school buses with a total of 1388 seats had been mobilised from various places, with the number expected to grow to 60, with a total of more than 1500 seats, public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported.
“We cannot guarantee 100 per cent that the matriculation exams will be held smoothly in Sofia, as the transport strike is expected to continue next week, but we have formed a headquarters and we must be ready for the negative option,” Vulchev told BNT in an interview.
“We have 11 000 high school graduates in Sofia. The other day, the principals asked the parents how many pupils cannot travel, currently about 300 have said that they cannot. I am very pleased with the high level of mutual assistance – parents, transport companies, taxi companies got involved. I thank them, it is important for us, but it is also important for the children,” he said.
Vulchev said that the dates of the matriculation exams cannot be changed, as they are related to applications and are not only in Sofia.
He said that a later start time for the exam is not being discussed – it remains 8.30 a.m. The most important thing is for the pupils to be on time.
Vulchev said that Sofia mayor Vassil Terziev and Interior Minister Daniel Mitov were also ready to help.
It was being discussed that there should be no blue and green zones and that parking should be allowed in the school grounds, Vulchev said.
“We will collect telephone numbers, addresses, routes of all pupils who need to travel. Each child lives in a different place and is randomly assigned to another school, not their own,” he said.
Terziev, facing demands from the striking public transport employees for higher pay, has said that for negotiations to begin, the strike must end.
It is still not clear whether a new meeting between the protesters and the mayor will be held on May 19.
Terziev told Bulgarian National Radio that there was still no positive development over the weekend, as there were no funds to meet the demands of the unions and public transport employees.
“There is no way that what the unions are asking for – 400 leva this year, 500 leva next year, 600 leva the year after for all 7000 employees – will be achieved,” he said.
“I said it, that is 200 million leva every year, this salary increase would cost us from 2027 onwards. Sofia’s own revenue is in the order of 800 to 900 million leva. Do the maths on what this would cost us, 200 million leva to its own revenue of 800 – 900 million leva,” Terziev said.
The reformist We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition, on whose ticket Terziev was elected mayor in November 2023, has accused Boiko Borissov’s GERB of fomenting the public transport strike as a means of discrediting Terziev. A protest in solidarity with Terziev is being held on May 19.
Those rejecting the strikers’ demands have pointed to the substantial increases in pay given to public transport drivers in Sofia in recent years. The unions are demanding not only increases in pay but also improved working conditions, complaining of excessive overtime.
Borissov has rejected WCC- DB’s allegations and has described Terziev as incompetent and impotent.
(Photo: falk2, via Wikimedia Commons)
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