Education: Identity versus universalism

The daily newspaper Dnevnik comments on the public debate about whether Bulgaria's classical authors or more modern authors should predominate in the reading curriculum at schools. "This dispute will remain unproductive if it doesn't lead to a debate about what is to be expected from the secondary education level. What do we want to convey? Identity or adaptation? Love for all things Bulgarian … or for the civilisational, or in other words universal values that apply beyond our national borders? If schools want to foster identity the current predominance of Bulgarian classics must remain intact. If they want to promote universalism foreign authors must also be included. The identity versus universalism debate is a serious one because it has the potential to strengthen the cultural divisions in modern Bulgarian society."

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