D-2482 DG's Newsletter September 2015-EN

RI President 2015-2016: KR Ravi Ravindran D2482 District Governor 2015-2016: Nina Miteva м: +359 887293331; E-mail: [email protected] www.rotarydistrict2482.org Dear friends, September is the month of literacy and primary education in the calendar of Rotary. That is because the literacy and primary education contribute to peace, supporting the achievement of individual freedoms, a better understanding of the world, prevention and resolution of conflicts, a way out of the abyss of poverty and hunger. That is why they are one of the focuses of our efforts for sustainable change. We take literacy for granted. But the fact is that Illiteracy continues to be a key issue in almost all over the world. According to United Nations data, about 780 million of people, or one in five in the world, has not got even minimal literacy, 75 million of children do not attend school, and many more are not present all the time in class or drop out of the educational system. In 35 countries the literate people represent fewer than 50% of the population. The little girl Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, shot and survived from the bullets of the Taliban, is an example of the fight for the right and opportunity for girls and women to obtain even primary education in countries of Africa and Asia. What is happening in our country which gave the basic learning how to read and write to the European nations? Why literacy and primary education so basically turn into an important topic for our society as well? According to the latest international research - the Program for International Student Assessment /PISA/ of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as per literacy of reading Bulgaria ranks 46th place out of a total of 65 countries and is “equal” in terms of level of educational standards to Uruguay, Mexico, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago. 41 per cent of the Bulgarian students are below the critical threshold for readability skills. They possess an elementary functional literacy – they can read and write, but have difficulties in construing and interpretation of the texts. The students having got the best results are under 3 per cent. As per indicator, that is illiteracy amongst the young people, Bulgaria ranks 85th place. According to the survey, in our country, the most literate people are those of over 55 years of age, by this criterion the country being in the top ten. Early school leavers are 13% of the Bulgarians, which means that approximately every tenth out of ten drops out of the education. Growing is the number of young people being between 20 and 24 years old, who have never seen a classroom. 82% of the young people who have left school untimely, are unemployed, half of them do not even look for a job and do not wish to work. Among the people who have not completed their secondary education falls the highest portion of those living in poverty. They are three times more than those who have howsoever taken their high-school diploma.

RI President 2015-2016: KR Ravi Ravindran D2482 District Governor 2015-2016: Nina Miteva м: +359 887293331; E-mail: [email protected] www.rotarydistrict2482.org The poverty, ineffective system, prejudices, receded and strayed away for the last year only over 11 000 Bulgarian children from school. And when the children in the classrooms in the villages and small populated locations are thinning out and we ask ourselves “Where are the students, why are they gone?”, they have not disappeared; they are there – poor, gathering timber or mushrooms, or being an easy victim of criminal gangs, of trafficking in human beings, they are there – in the camp, swarthy and frightened. These are people with future taken away, people, who are taking away from the future of Bulgaria too. What they will be and how many will be the people after 20 years, who will be expected to form the backbone of the society and economy? As Rotarians, we cannot directly solve the problems of the educational system, but we can, based upon our authority of public figures and people from business circles, undertake actions so that the Bulgarian education could ensure literacy, tolerance and security. As an organization and clubs, in our communities, we can focus our efforts to a sustainable change of the lives of the young generations of Bulgaria – in projects, providing access to literacy and knowledge, creating a favorable environment in support of the interest of learning, opening to talented Bulgarian children the horizons of self-development and manifestation of their talents. We have got all the resources for that – our experience, our expertise, our support from Rotary Foundation. These projects may be of different scale, but they will certainly change many human lives for the better. Friends, think about that the next time, when you plan your project! Let’s grow as Rotarians and let’s have the wisdom instead of building a fountain for drinking, small garden or a clock, to choose to invest in people and in the long run – in our common good future in Bulgaria! Let the 15th of September’s school bell resound the heart and soul of the child, that still keeps on living in each of us, let it get us back in time, when with eyes wide open and hope for good people next to us we have begun to explore the big and scary world! Let it make us empathetic, ready to help and to support the children of Bulgaria on their way to literacy, knowledge and achievements! Nina Nina Miteva District governor 2015-16

RI President 2015-2016: KR Ravi Ravindran D2482 District Governor 2015-2016: Nina Miteva м: +359 887293331; E-mail: [email protected] www.rotarydistrict2482.org