BGN 500 million earmarked for STEM centres under the Recovery Plan

A mission of the European Commission's Task Force on Recovery and Resilience, led by Céline Gauer, toured the newly opened National STEM Centre today, November 14.

The first funds under the Recovery Plan are expected within weeks, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov said at the meeting. About half a billion BGN will be available for STEM centres.

There will be one national centre, three regional centres and separate STEM centres in more than 2,200 schools. The schools will decide for themselves what sciences they will develop - physics, computer science, engineering and others.

Today, mini laboratories were presented to the European Union mission. They should be built in Bulgarian schools by 2026 - in robotics, chemistry, green technologies.

Depending on the number of students, they will be able to receive between 50 and 600 thousand BGN per project.

"To lay a new foundation for Bulgarian education in all Bulgarian schools, both for students and teachers, so that they can use all the latest technologies. A better way for them to be prepared to transmit this knowledge to the young people in Bulgaria and to the students," said Atanas Pekanov, Deputy Prime Minister for EU funds.

"It has been very exciting to see how the Recovery and Resileince Plan can really bring science closer to children so that students and schoolchildren can learn hands-on in new laboratories," added Celine Gauer, Director General and Head of the European Commission's Recovery and Resileince Task Force.