In the State Gazette, issue 92 of 6 November 2018 amendments and supplements to the Vocational Education and Training Act have been published. The changes are mainly related to:
1. More detailed regulation of the work based learning (the dual education system) by specifying the requirements and the possibilities for maintaining the qualification of the mentor and the teacher-methodist, the requirements for the employers providing training places, the establishment of employers’ data base, etc.
2. Refinement of the activity of NAVET on the control and quality assessment of the activities of the licensed institutions and in this respect the determination of the number of the staff in NAVET, namely 30 employees.
3. The requirement for a quorum to hold the meetings of the NAVET Management Board to ½ of its members was amended.
4. Alleviating licensing applicants and licensed institutions:
• The content of the Licensing Document is changed – the address of the legal entity or the sole trader will not be entered – thus changing the address will not require a license with the new address;
• Abrogating the requirement for submission of a copy of BULSTAT / UIC by the licensing applicants;
• Regulating when an on-the-spot check is being carried out as part of the licensing procedure and complementing of a text that verification does not need to be done and supporting documents will not be required if the base is entered in a public register of facilities for public use;
• The procedure for adding new professions and specialties to the license is regulated;
• The possibility of termination of the license at the request of the holder is introduced, etc.
5. Introducing an option to CVT that has a license for profession that is modified / deleted in case of changes to the LPVET, to apply for the inclusion of another profession from the same professional field at the place of the modified or deleted profession.
6. Ensure better transparency of the licensing procedure by distinguishing the different stages, namely:
• Verification of the regularity of the submitted applications and documents;
• Assessment of the applicant’s ability to undertake training for each of the professions listed in the application.
7. Regulating the maintenance of a list of specialties for professions where there is an expected shortage of specialists in the labor market and the role of the institutions in its development and updating
8. Important changes related to the activities of licensed CVTs have been introduced:
• Determine the period for updating training plans and curricula – every 5 years (Article 13д, paragraph 5)
• Determine the timeframe within which the CVT must upload information about the vocational training carried out within the IS of the NAVET, namely up to 10 days from the moment of its occurrence.
9. A clearer regulation of the licensing fees NAVET collects, namely:
• Verification of the regularity of the submitted license applications and their documents;
• Assessment of the applicant’s ability to undertake training for each of the professions in the application;
• Issuance of a vocational training license and entry in the public register;
• Issuance of a duplicate of the license.
10. Require the obliteration of a particular profession in the license if the CVT has not been accomplish a training by this profession for more than 5 consecutive years.
The amendments shall be made within 3 days after the promulgation of the normative act pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria.
