Indignation is sweeping the Jewish population as the result of an order, issued by the Ministry of Education, that teachers in the private schools must be Bulgarians and Bulgarian citizens.
The order applies to pedagogues in the following subjects: Bulgarian language, history, religion and gymnastics.
Teachers in other subjects may be non-citizens, but on condition that they have obtained a higher pedagogic education.
All permits which have been issued to teachers who have had no pedagogic training, such as those who have gone through non-pedagogic high schools, are being withdrawn and the teachers concerned will no longer be allowed to teach in private schools. In addition, the order provides that the schools must be closed on Sundays and Christian festivals.
HAD SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
Hitherto the private Jewish schools have had the right to be open on Sundays and holidays and were allowed to be closed on the Jewish sabbath and festivals.
The Jews consider the order as almost tantamount to a degradation to the rank of second-class citizens. The order will bring about the deprival of about 150 Jewish families of their means of livelihood.
It will also result in a heavy blow at the movement which is being carried on for the Hebraization of private schools in Bulgaria, because most of the teachers carrying on this work will lose their positions.
COMMUNITIES MUST PAY
The introduction of Bulgarian teachers by means of this order is not accompanied by any assumption of responsibility for the finances of these schools by the state. The maintenance of these schools continues to fall upon the Jewish communities.
There are reports that the intention of the government reform is to reorganize the schools of national minorities in Bulgaria on lines which will accord better with the interests of the country, and it is not aimed directly at the Jews.
The Jews are brought in, however, because of the necessity to generalize the reform for all private schools. The order speaks in this regard of Turkish, Armenian and Jewish schools.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
