Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Brain drain goes on: education fair confirms strong interest in Germany-based university education

БНР Новини
Photo: courtesy to the embassy of Germany to Bulgaria

Bulgarian university students in Germany are about 8000, accounting for one of the largest foreign student groups in the Federal Republic. German universities are by tradition strongly appealing for Bulgarians. Even in the early 20 c. the Bulgarian elite, mostly in engineering science, was trained in Germany. The trend is very much underway today: one reason for the German Embassy in Sofia to organize an education fair for the second time. Earlier this week, officials from more than 40 kindergartens, schools and universities from Bulgaria and Germany consulted and informed visitors about German language learning programs and opportunities to study in Germany.

Starting early in the morning, many young people gather outside the German Embassy to have a look at the booths arranged there. They take brochures away and ask questions about ways to apply for German universities. Most of them are fluent in German. Sylvia Danovska has stopped by Bavaria’s booth. She is on the lookout for a suitable MA program. She has an MA in international economic relations but is getting ready for further education in Germany.

“I am after something new and different. Both my BA and MA degrees have been obtained in Bulgaria and I now want to have an MA in Germany because I believe in the high quality of education there.”

11 grade student Dimitar Ivanov has been preparing for university training in Germany since he enrolled in high school. He has a very clear idea what he wants: to study aviation engineering. He has travelled 100 km from his native town Pleven to learn more straight from the horse’s mouth – at the booth of the Technical University in Munich.

“They have this major but only after a BA degree, with an MA program. I like the conditions at the Technical University and I have been hard to prepare for the German language exam at the high school in Pleven.”

Matthias Dehner / Photo: courtesy to the embassy of Germany to Bulgaria

The education fair at the German Embassy is welcome for Sylvia and Dimitar. Matthias Dehner, head of the Cultural Department at the Embassy, is happy with the great interest.

“We see the traditionally large number of Bulgarian students in Germany as a symbol of the intensive cultural exchange between the two countries”, Dehner says.

However, this process can also be seen as a brain drain from Bulgaria: “This is a fairly complex issue and is currently hotly debated in Germany. However, it should be discussed in the larger context of the European Union”, Dehner believes. “European Union’s future requires more diverse experience of its citizens, both personal and professional, gained in different member countries. Anybody who is trained in a German university is the master of his life. He shall decide whether to stay on in Germany or return for a career in Bulgaria. Our observations confirm that many Bulgarians return to their home country for successful careers here. I think that the EU develops very dynamically and with time the exchange of staff will reach a desirable balance.”

English version: Daniela Konstantinova




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

"Vote Hard" for visually impaired people in Bulgaria

People with motor and visual disabilities in Bulgaria face numerous difficulties in moving around and in their daily lives. But apart from purely physical obstacles, there are also obstacles at the level of access to information and administrative..

published on 10/27/24 8:35 AM

Vesko Eschkenazy: Elections are very important, sometimes I just can't stand what I see in this country

"I vote whenever I can and I'm in a place where there is a way to do it," the world-famous Bulgarian violinist and concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam Vesko Panteleev-Eshkenazy proudly tells Radio Bulgaria . And today, without..

published on 10/27/24 7:45 AM

A new attraction in Burgas - Museum of the Impossible debunks delusions

A few days ago, a space where art, science and magic lend a hand has been opened in Bulgaria's Burgas on the Black Sea coast. Guests of the new Museum of the Impossible are transported to parallel worlds to learn more about the universe. An anti-gravity..

published on 10/26/24 10:35 AM