Religious education in Bulgarian schools is facing difficulties. The Minister for Education Daniel Valchev has said that the introduction of religion as a compulsory subject would lead to a reduction of the hours devoted to the teaching of other subjects, such as literature, history and maths. Nonetheless he admitted religion helps to inculcate moral values in children, and many parents see in it a means to counter the threats of drugs, violence and the sects. At the same time he is of the view that the introduction of this new subject would involve other difficulties, also due to the shortage of classrooms. “We cannot understand the culture of any society without knowing its religion”, said the vice-rector of the University of Sofia, Gheorghi Bakalov. “While education must remain secular, religion must be taught in schools”. At the present time “religion” is optional in schools in Bulgaria and is taught in 289 schools. So far 16,667 children have opted for it, of whom 13,000 study Christianity and 3,658 Islam. In contrast to Bulgaria, in Estonia the Parliament will shortly vote on a new law that would make the teaching of religion compulsory in senior secondary schools, while in lower secondary and primary schools it will be optional.
