BULGARIA

Vasil Levski High School, Velingrad 

Vasil Levski High School Velingrad is a state founded comprehensive school of 12 years cycle of education. It has 577 students and 52 teachers. The school ranks among the best in the country. Our vision is expressed in the slogan "A SCHOOL WITH TRADITIONS IS A SCHOOL WITH A FUTURE".

An interactive learning environment is built to shape and implement the EU key competences and skills that foster personal development, active participation in civil society and social inclusion. The school is provided with open and flexible training that is essential for the 21st century skills. We offer extensive all-round learning with a view to further study of English, Humanities and ICT. 

For more than 20 years our school has had a tradition in intensive English language learning. Our students have won a number of national and international English language contests in Creative writing, Public speaking and Debating. 

Furthermore, last year our school was given the title "innovative" school by the Ministry of Education for the implementation of ICT in the management of the institution, relying on the further introduction of ICT and cloud technologies at all levels of the educational process. 

However, since the demographic structure of the society in our town has undergone some changes and it has been an on-going process for the last few years, the students who come from Roma families have increased in number and their integration has become one of the priorities of our school. Due to the ethnic and religious diversity of the population of the region we live in, the students in our school are: 45% Christians, 37% Muslims, 15% Roma and 3% with special needs. In our view, all these students need to be integrated not only in the school environment and the local community life, but also be given the chance to broaden their horizons and experience the European dimensions of equality and social inclusion. The acknowledgement of their identity will foster mutual understanding and overcoming of prejudice and stereotypes. 

This project will complement the mission of our school to create a tolerant community aware of the differences and uniqueness of every single person.