‘GLOBUL Hour is among the company’s most successful projects aimed at sharing experience and supporting young people in Bulgaria. So far, students highly appreciate the initiative as it gives them the opportunity to apply the knowledge they gained at the university in a real business environment.’ – GLOBUL Human Resources and Administration Director Mr. Boris Tatchev commented.

The long-term educational initiative GLOBUL Hour was launched in 2008 with the aim to enrich students’ knowledge and guide them in their future career. GLOBUL traditionally supports Bulgarian education and provides students from leading Bulgarian and foreign universities with many opportunities for gaining practical experience, professional training and career development.

Evictions, Condo vultures, Juvenile homes, Airline issues, Low-paid workers, Profiting out of employee deaths…that is a mere part of the outcome of the high and mighty “Holy Capitalism”. That is the state to which those Great States of America have reached during the rain of the capital system. The spread of the power-driven mania has led to the creation of a circle of greedy and non-humanitarian creatures, who can in no way be acclaimed people or human beings, thus the destruction they perform, the corruption they inspire as a means of well-being…mainly for the Upper-class, has proven beneficial for the little as 1% of the Wealthy Americans. This policy has eliminated the clear distinguishment between poor, middle-class and wealthy.

Nowadays there are no middle-class workers.

They have been successfully manipulated into “refinancing” their estates by paying unjust mortgages with unreasonable interest rate terms – invisible to the naked (untrained) eye in the “market” functions. Such frauds have left many people homeless, practically kicked out on the streets and absolutely no one cares about their future destiny as the world continues to revolve around the “Powerful Ones” for whom a double standard policy is at hand.

Michael Moore interviews in his film Bob Fineberg, who has managed the VIP mortgage loans of Countrywide. Instructions to introduce lower or to wave out taxes for certain people have been made to him and he simply…obeyed?! Is that Normal? How can a person working for a company that is technically stealing the property out of the hands of the hard-working people (the middle-class) part of which, assumingly does Bob belong to, can perform such a ill-hearted deal. What if he was at the other end of the straw? Would he like his home taken away from him? Would he not wish justice or punishment for the ones that have tricked him?

Bill Black – is a different story. That is the name of a man deserving respect. He is the bank regulator responsible for the uncovering of the “Savings and loan scandal” in 1980s for which reason he was to be dealt with under Charles Keeting`s instructions (one of the leading figures of the scandal) He also implies that having the ‘wrong’ people in government can be thoroughly justified especially by those to whom those people are actually the ‘good ones’. They pull the strings in such a way that favours those in power. That is the way to help them become rich and rob even further society`s financial reserves but chivalrously so that people believe that is the right way to execute under the presented conditions.

Similar to the mortgage Profit scheme is the situation with the unjust verdicts of all those students from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania received only for the financial benefits at hand. They were not priory sent to those facilities in order to be rediciplined but to become a major tool for profits. The interesting comparison made in the movie – between the salaries of airplane pilots and bread makers, makes me reconsider the air travelling. I too wish the pilot is adequately paid and the technical equipment to have passed the necessary check-ups, so that I could feel save and reassured that an accident shall not happen.

The possibility of a future employer of mine to benefit from my death is purely outrageous. I am in no physical way connected with a particular organization that would mourn for my demise. I believe that only family members could receive any kind of collateral out of an insurance under my name. It is immoral and unethical to benefit upon ones grief.

Unfortunately the idea of prosperity has generally become a Dream for all individuals. Gradually people have become obsessed with their personal well-being and become indifferent towards the masses` situation. They have been mesmerized by the ability at hand to compete with every single person and keep every little profit to themselves, rather to share. They were now stimulated and encouraged that by working hard they could eventually enter that small group of people consisting of the 1% of the most Wealthy Americans.

Is that truly possible? Could it be that easy to enter that closed circle?

Probably not.

Especially without the support of major figures of business or government power. After all a plutonomy, as a Citygroup report has described the current political status of the US, is only ruled by the richest and most powerful representatives of society. The democratic principles are no longer valid and followed, they have been replaced by the corrupt desires of the Wealthiest to become even richer.

There is an non-excludable variable from the Money giant`s equation, and that is the will of the people. The possible, yet “unimaginable” anger they may feel towards that unfair well-fare policy. After all every single person has his/her right to vote. Simple calculations show that 99% of the voting power is in the hands of the ordinary people. They could easily put an end to this preposterous tyranny.

Unfortunately a new player enters the game – that is Fear. The ultimate weapon for mass reconciliation and manipulation. But living under restriction, being scared, emotionally and sometimes physically hurt can and does lead to an eventual revolution – to redeem ones constitutional rights, to regain their security for a proper life, to fight for what is theirs to survive. Example for that behavior are the Troudi family and their neighbours from Miami, who illegally reopened a house to live in. Their heart-felt story woke up the human part in a bank and police officers and let them stay. They understand their tragedy, even a member of Congress encouraged an “open rebellion” against the mortgage eviction practices. This is the Voice of the people – loud and clear: “We want equity”.

During the new presidential election times, with the emerging of Barak Obama`s figure on the stage that voice gradually rose its pitch, become more clear, more coherent. A new strategy was demanded, a new path was desired to be walked upon, a new more justified era was required.

Due to the uncertainty of what might happen Wall street took precaution measurements represented in financial support for his campaign. But the flow of the scare-oriented propaganda, entitling Obama as a socialist did little to affect the majority of voters. They were becoming more and more interested in what way the new system would improve their lives so they have made their choices. To proceed forward and cross the border of the unknown in a faint believe for a better life.

As a conclusion
I shall add that generally, according to Moore, Capitalism has decayed the foundations of the democratically planned America and ruined the natural order it was implied to follow. Some among the many have proven to be more cunning and devious, and have found how through the art of manipulation, fear and immense power to become modern age rulers using modern-days knowledge. This has become an over-speculative game for dominance, out of which few are the winners and billion – the losers.
There is a ray of hope in the prospects of the citizens voting power. Their ability to unite against injustice and mistreatment. Realizing the power of the many shall eliminate the privileges of the few and will lead the world to a saner and fare place to live and perform our daily activities for improving even further not only our living standards but those of our successors.

Michael Moore’s work is one of the most epic love movies ever made, focusing on the sad unrequited love of the poor to an honorable standard of living on one side and the undiminished love of the rich to become richer on the other. The big sarcastic critical story-teller presents to us a kind of modern Cinderella tale, somehow lacking its happy ending and a good fairy, but however expressive enough to show all the dirty work, hopeless dreams and the evil greedy stepmother, who in this version happens to be insanely rich and powerful. And here comes the basic question: what is the moral of the story?
Moore does not present to us a magic cure to the epidemic disease, which he describes, but sure enough, he manages to find the way to shed more light on the symptoms and the urgent need for a change. There always comes a point where unfairness cannot and should not be tolerated any more. The aim of the movie is not to just state how awful system capitalism is and make us all socialists. It is to show that things aren’t supposed to work that way, that there are borders which should not be crossed, no matter how profitable it will be for some to cross them, and that there should not be a price tag on human life and dignity. If justice and understanding do not turn into reality rather than just be some abstract idealistic words, some thrones and pedestals are likely to be shaken.
First of all, as Thomas Malthus states in his essay “On the perfectibility of society” , there is no perfect society, or at the least not in the way we may picture it. It is too idealistic to imagine that someday all will live equally in a utopian midst of plenty, especially today, when we are faced with the unmanageable decrease of the natural resources. The working class is an essential part for the functioning of the society, it has always existed and in the foreseeable future there is no indication for its insufficiency or disappearing, so practically a full equality is not quite achievable. But the strive towards good, honorable standard of living where people get what they deserve for their work and do not have to worry about basic things like food, clothes, healthcare and education is something that should always have to be the primary goal of each society and does not have to be stated in a Bill of Rights for it to become more real. The parallel which Moore draws to ancient Rome with all its disparity, unfairness, cruelty and senselessness is painfully accurate and its future irrelevance is all we can hope for.
Because the problems shown on the movie are real, they are not just empty words, not some annoying whining about how bad things are. Moore speaks in facts even though they are only a tiny little fraction of the ugliness and madness of a system got out of control. It is not my intention to give statistics or present more fact than Moore does to show how big the wound on society is, he does it well enough not only to raise people’s awareness but inspire them to act. Of course, watching a 2-hour movie will not make any viewer a political analyst or economist, there is much more to be understood, examined, learned and respectively fixed. But the very existing of movies like this ( and like for example Zeitgeist, Fahrenheit 9/11, Inside job and so on) is a clear indicator that the vicious ‘theftism’ in which politicians and bankers are getting more and more involved shall not go unnoticed, this existence is the initial whisper, which may someday become the scream of the “peasants” which are not dead but willing to stand for their rights. The ‘’Y’’ should not be crossed out from the statement ‘’the world is Yours”.
As I mentioned, above all, this is a story about love. Rich people fell in love with the idea of becoming richer by abusing the rights of the others, making money out of nothing, gambling and cheating, using complicated derivatives, swaps, transitions and countless other vicious schemes. And the government gently and benevolently supported this pure love by removing all the obstacles (regulations) which were standing in its way. This created a bubble. The bubble exploded. World went in crises. The culprits got bonuses. Simple and beautiful- love of a lifetime. And the best thing is that there is no current indication of its end. Such a respectful persistence!
It is really a scary thought that all the insane practices are still going on, that many of the people responsible for the crisis are still working for the US government and perhaps got even more power. Who’s there to tell them to stop?
In 1992 a 12-year old Canadian girl gave a beautiful speech to the United Nations. Her words there and the position from which she was telling them were inspiring. She talked about the brighter future for the kids, about responsibility, honor, compassion and all other beautiful things; she gave the big guys an important life lesson. Or at least she tried. I am only sure that the CEO-s of America do not watch this speech during their breakfasts in their million-dollar houses and do not print it under the contracts they sign. But, however, let’s get out of their houses for now and go to the poor people for a while.
First of all, they actually do not own theirs. They are more beneficent if they live on rent. As John Adams once said, there are two ways to enslave a country, one is by sword, and the other is by debt. And that’s exactly what is being done, both in the international and the domestic policy. So what if a home is foreclosed in America every seven seconds and a half, this will not be measured in GDP and will not make some rich guy poorer. It will just keep others working even harder in order not to lose their house too. Such a beautiful order! Now here comes the question, why does Cinderella keeps exhausting and humiliating herself to death while her stepmother goes to balls?
The answer can be summed up in one word only – the carrot. People have this peculiar quality to never lose hope, no matter what happens. And no matter how motivating and inspiring hope is sometimes, in some cases it proves to be destructive. Because if one thing is hopeless, it is the expectation that the greedy will magically decide to become generous and stop robbing people. A Margaret Weis’ quote is very likely to be relevant here. “Hope is the denial of reality. It is the carrot dangled before the draft horse to keep him plodding along in a vain attempt to reach it.“ So it high time for people not to stop hoping but to open their eyes and stop following a never-reaching carrot while some 1% of the others are eating all the other carrots and throw the left outs at them.
Unfortunately sometimes it is hard to walk with eyes wide open. There is now no one like Jonas Salk anymore to come and cure our society. Even Moore, with all his comparatively high awareness, a big dose of criticism, innovative ideas and desire to arrest some of the most powerful men in the United States, does not have all the answers. So what is there to be done to lead people out of the vicious cycles and sand foundations of the economy? When there will be what to pledge allegiance to and be proud of, and wrong answers will not be considered right only because they serve someone’s interest? These are only part of the questions which Moore raises. Because no system is intended to be harmful and destructive in its essence, the ideas of capitalism seem pure in their original intention and meaning, but people have this tendency to twist? misinterpret and spoil things and bring the worst out of them until they cross all reasonable borders. Bolshevism was the borderless destructive child of communism and what is to happen with capitalism if its ideas keep on being exploited and destroyed? It’s what happens when a tool is used for a weapon. Some parts of society have always been greedy, abusive and power-seeking, but this should not be legalized and encouraged, frauds should not turn into practices, if not for some virtuous compassionate reasons, for the sake of the prevention of the burst of the another bubble which seem to be growing. The next crisis might be too severe and irreversible to allow bonuses and exceptions for anyone. People have never reached such level of progress and knowledge, but they need to learn how to handle them. It seems that many of the people with power nowadays are like children playing with a new toy; they know it is shiny and nice and want to play with it as much as they can, but toys break. And we cannot place a tag ‘’not suitable for men not responsible and mature enough to know how to handle it” on power, as we use tags on toys. So this results in some other tags, price tags, on our homes, hopes and lives. And no matter what political regime it is or who is in power, these things are neither for sale, nor a subject to an auction. So the next time someone starts wondering who will get the larger piece of the pie, he may rather ask himself, who will choke with it first.
All in all, there are many interpretations of what has happened with American capitalism, which president, which policy contributed most to the absurd situation nowadays, if it wasn’t for the financial system shifting during the 70s-80s would it be different now and so on and so on, countless unanswerable ifs. But at the end of the day all statistics and endless discussions become irrelevant, Cinderella obediently cleans up the mess, secretly hoping for a better life and her stepmother is somewhere lost in her thoughts, lonely frustration and greed. But somewhere in the distance there might be a happy ending, there might be a good fairy, in case Cinderella is ready for it, to fight for it and cleans the dust off herself. Until then, the love story continues ardently. Happily movies like Michael Moor’s will at least to some extent try to lead the way out and show the urgent need of some decent “Happily Ever After”.

The End. (Or to be continued)

Evictions, Condo vultures, Juvenile homes, Airline issues, Low-paid workers, Profiting out of employee deaths…that is a mere part of the outcome of the high and mighty “Holy Capitalism”. That is the state to which those Great States of America have reached during the rain of the capital system. The spread of the power-driven mania has led to the creation of a circle of greedy and non-humanitarian creatures, who can in no way be acclaimed people or human beings, thus the destruction they perform, the corruption they inspire as a means of well-being…mainly for the Upper-class, has proven beneficial for the little as 1% of the Wealthy Americans. This policy has eliminated the clear distinguishment between poor, middle-class and wealthy.

Nowadays there are no middle-class workers.

They have been successfully manipulated into “refinancing” their estates by paying unjust mortgages with unreasonable interest rate terms – invisible to the naked (untrained) eye in the “market” functions. Such frauds have left many people homeless, practically kicked out on the streets and absolutely no one cares about their future destiny as the world continues to revolve around the “Powerful Ones” for whom a double standard policy is at hand.

Michael Moore interviews in his film Bob Fineberg, who has managed the VIP mortgage loans of Countrywide. Instructions to introduce lower or to wave out taxes for certain people have been made to him and he simply…obeyed?! Is that Normal? How can a person working for a company that is technically stealing the property out of the hands of the hard-working people (the middle-class) part of which, assumingly does Bob belong to, can perform such a ill-hearted deal. What if he was at the other end of the straw? Would he like his home taken away from him? Would he not wish justice or punishment for the ones that have tricked him?

Bill Black – is a different story. That is the name of a man deserving respect. He is the bank regulator responsible for the uncovering of the “Savings and loan scandal” in 1980s for which reason he was to be dealt with under Charles Keeting`s instructions (one of the leading figures of the scandal) He also implies that having the ‘wrong’ people in government can be thoroughly justified especially by those to whom those people are actually the ‘good ones’. They pull the strings in such a way that favours those in power. That is the way to help them become rich and rob even further society`s financial reserves but chivalrously so that people believe that is the right way to execute under the presented conditions.

Similar to the mortgage Profit scheme is the situation with the unjust verdicts of all those students from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania received only for the financial benefits at hand. They were not priory sent to those facilities in order to be rediciplined but to become a major tool for profits. The interesting comparison made in the movie – between the salaries of airplane pilots and bread makers, makes me reconsider the air travelling. I too wish the pilot is adequately paid and the technical equipment to have passed the necessary check-ups, so that I could feel save and reassured that an accident shall not happen.

The possibility of a future employer of mine to benefit from my death is purely outrageous. I am in no physical way connected with a particular organization that would mourn for my demise. I believe that only family members could receive any kind of collateral out of an insurance under my name. It is immoral and unethical to benefit upon ones grief.

Unfortunately the idea of prosperity has generally become a Dream for all individuals. Gradually people have become obsessed with their personal well-being and become indifferent towards the masses` situation. They have been mesmerized by the ability at hand to compete with every single person and keep every little profit to themselves, rather to share. They were now stimulated and encouraged that by working hard they could eventually enter that small group of people consisting of the 1% of the most Wealthy Americans.

Is that truly possible? Could it be that easy to enter that closed circle?

Probably not.

Especially without the support of major figures of business or government power. After all a plutonomy, as a Citygroup report has described the current political status of the US, is only ruled by the richest and most powerful representatives of society. The democratic principles are no longer valid and followed, they have been replaced by the corrupt desires of the Wealthiest to become even richer.

There is an non-excludable variable from the Money giant`s equation, and that is the will of the people. The possible, yet “unimaginable” anger they may feel towards that unfair well-fare policy. After all every single person has his/her right to vote. Simple calculations show that 99% of the voting power is in the hands of the ordinary people. They could easily put an end to this preposterous tyranny.

Unfortunately a new player enters the game – that is Fear. The ultimate weapon for mass reconciliation and manipulation. But living under restriction, being scared, emotionally and sometimes physically hurt can and does lead to an eventual revolution – to redeem ones constitutional rights, to regain their security for a proper life, to fight for what is theirs to survive. Example for that behavior are the Troudi family and their neighbours from Miami, who illegally reopened a house to live in. Their heart-felt story woke up the human part in a bank and police officers and let them stay. They understand their tragedy, even a member of Congress encouraged an “open rebellion” against the mortgage eviction practices. This is the Voice of the people – loud and clear: “We want equity”.

During the new presidential election times, with the emerging of Barak Obama`s figure on the stage that voice gradually rose its pitch, become more clear, more coherent. A new strategy was demanded, a new path was desired to be walked upon, a new more justified era was required.

Due to the uncertainty of what might happen Wall street took precaution measurements represented in financial support for his campaign. But the flow of the scare-oriented propaganda, entitling Obama as a socialist did little to affect the majority of voters. They were becoming more and more interested in what way the new system would improve their lives so they have made their choices. To proceed forward and cross the border of the unknown in a faint believe for a better life.

As a conclusion
I shall add that generally, according to Moore, Capitalism has decayed the foundations of the democratically planned America and ruined the natural order it was implied to follow. Some among the many have proven to be more cunning and devious, and have found how through the art of manipulation, fear and immense power to become modern age rulers using modern-days knowledge. This has become an over-speculative game for dominance, out of which few are the winners and billion – the losers.
There is a ray of hope in the prospects of the citizens voting power. Their ability to unite against injustice and mistreatment. Realizing the power of the many shall eliminate the privileges of the few and will lead the world to a saner and fare place to live and perform our daily activities for improving even further not only our living standards but those of our successors.

Stop hesitating, just come to Bulgaria! A country full of possibilities, with a beautiful nature, cheap living standards, a nice culture and a lot of friendly people!

The university where I go to is the UACEG and I live in a dorm room in Studentski Grad, like most of the foreign students that are here on Erasmus.

About the dorms… they are neither clean, nor are they well-maintained. We don’t have a private or common kitchen or proper furniture, the beds and chairs are uncomfortable and likely to break down at any given moment. The single-glazed windows usually don’t have proper blinds, nor do they close really well and thus have multiple cracks through which a heat flow is very likely to be established in winter time. Therefore, it is advisable to tape the cracks or to fill them with old newspapers to try and reduce the heat losses. Some rooms do have proper heating systems for the winter, others don’t. My toaster, for example, produces more warmth than the heating system in my room. Also, I think there is not a single dorm room with a fungus-free bathroom.

However, the rooms do have a proper refrigerator, are provided with really hot water and the doors are usually well-secured with an additional iron gate.

It is unthinkable for me to share a room like that with two other people. Luckily, I had the opportunity to have the whole room for myself and so I pay the full amount. I was told that this normally isn’t the case and that you are obliged to share the room with at least one or two other persons. Two persons are okay, but three people in a room like that is pretty uncomfortable and not a good environment at all to study in.

The situation in Belgium is really different, the majority of the student rooms in Ghent, for example, are private properties and scattered all around the city. There are some student dormitory blocks of universities, but their quality is not at all comparable to the Bulgarian ones.

Since I am here for my final project (diplomna rabota), I believe it’s called in Bulgarian) and only two other courses I cant say if Bulgaria provides a proper education. My courses consist of private meetings with the professors in their rooms, because the courses are not normally provided in the English language. Hence, I have no idea if normal Bulgarian courses provide the students with an adequate education, but I suppose they do.

I study civil engineering – construction, and my final project is focused on the seismic design and resistance of buildings. So yes, I learn completely new things here, since we don’t have earthquakes in Belgium.

The nightlife in Sofia, and especially the Erasmus life here is simply one big party! Every night it is possible to find people to have a party with in student’s dorm rooms, in bars or clubs in Studentski Grad, as well as in the center!

The music is of course depending on your own personal taste and the places you go to. There is one thing all Erasmus students can agree on though, that it is impossible to enjoy chalga music without being absolutely drunk!

Last, but definitely not least: the prizes of almost everything in Bulgaria are 50% lower than the Belgian ones, so they are really good! The fact is, however, that after a while I started adjusting myself to the Bulgarian prizes so that in the end I’m not saving any money because I’m consuming twice as much!

What shocked me at first place… the loads of snow the past winter; the street dogs; the gypsies; the non-stop supermarkets, flower shops and restaurants; the student dormitory blocks which resemble to psychiatric institutions or prisons with all the iron gate doors and graffiti; the low comfort of the dorm room and the absence of a kitchen; the Bulgarian way of driving a car and parking it wherever you like; the bad condition of the sidewalks, stairs and streets; the low prizes and the low living standards for the majority of the Bulgarian population; the expensive cars as a status symbol…

But despite of all the negative things I’ve been giving you my opinion about, I really love it here! I’m having a great time, meeting a lot of new and interesting people, making good friends, having loads of fun, basically enjoying the Erasmus life in every possible way!

Bulgaria really is an interesting country with many possibilities, interesting habits and a different way of living. The main goal of my Erasmus experience has long been fulfilled by having widened my view on the world and especially on Eastern Europe! Not for a single moment I have regretted leaving everything in Belgium behind and coming to Bulgaria for five months, I am really thankful for this amazing experience!

Eron Desloover

Author: Dimitar Vasilev

The EU’s student and teacher exchange programme, named after the Dutch philosopher Erasmus, celebrates its silver jubilee this year. Since its launch in the late 80′s, nearly 3 million students and teachers have been able to study and work abroad with the help of Erasmus grants.

Erasmus is a part of the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme, which aims to allow Europeans to learn and develop new skills throughout their lives. Erasmus deals with higher education and its general aim is to create a European Higher Education Area and foster innovation in Europe.The European Commission has proposed extra funding for Erasmus for the next EU funding period of 2014-2020. After 2013 the current Lifelong Learning Programme will be renamed „Erasmus for all“. The proposals will be guided through the EP by German Christian Democrat Doris Pack from the Culture Committee.

In the debate preceding the vote, rapporteur Laszl? Tokes (EPP, RO), stressed the importance of higher education in achieving the aims of the the EU’s 2020 strategy, expressing the hope that modern education would help to ensure that „our young people can have a bright future“.

Mobilising means for infrastructure, staff and modernising courses

To help universities and other institutions to contribute to competitiveness in Europe, Parliament asks national, regional and local authorities to ensure that their funding is adequate.

MEPs deplore the cuts made by some Member States in education budgets, and remind them of their duty to ensure that at least 2% of GDP is invested in the education sector.

Spending on university infrastructure and teaching staff could be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund or the European Social Fund, MEPs suggest.

A new instrument to fund masters-levle mobility

Grants and other financial aid for university-level mobility programmes can help to improve employability and growth in Europe, say MEPs. Parliament fully supports the Commission initiative to create a system of loans for students wishing to take a master’s degree abroad.

Mobility and adaptation to the labour market

Student mobility, mutual recognition of diplomas and qualifications earned abroad, and joint university study or research programmes are essential to high-quality teaching, MEPs say.

If the EU is to meet its target of ensuring that 35% of all workers are highly qualified by 2020, its higher education system must meet the challenge of adapting its courses and working methods to the needs both of the labour market and of an increasingly diverse student population.

The resolution was adopted with 464 votes in favour, 34 against and 33 abstentions.

Akademika.bg, our leader, enjoys popularity amongst great many people, who are interested in the topics of education, science, business.

In addition onlinematura.com supplies with information the 12 graders regarding the school-leaving examination.

Tonus.bg comes as a nice leisure getaway from everyday life. Its motto is “Live for pleasure” and the site covers the topics of health, travel and leisure activities.

Our brand new studentcity.bg is with a narrower scope which targets the university students in Bulgaria.

Through the years our motto has always been that positive thinking is a winning concept – in our everyday activities, our business, on all levels of communication.

Akademika BG Ltd. has created an educational center “Prized pupil”, which offers one-on-one consultations concerning the school leaving exams, college and university applications and career orientation.

Social responsibility

Each year, through its training programme, Akademika BG contributes to the development and further orientation of the young people. As a result of the last programme, came the publishing of the book “Let’s cook some news”. It received very good media coverage and was endorsed by the critics. In 2011, the trainees and our team prepared a „Best media title” list.

Our national campaigns “Be literate” and the simultaneous reciting of the kids’ favourite poem – “I am a Bulgarian” on June 1st , achieved great success and media coverage and now are greatly appreciated by the government and people of all ages.

Our brand new initiatives “The green Olympics” and “Bulgarian legends” are welcomed with interest.

- How many Belgians are currently living in Bulgaria on a permanent basis?

- Around 250 Belgian citizens are registered with the Belgian Embassy in Bulgaria. As Bulgaria is part of the European Union, it is however perfectly possible to live in Bulgaria for a longer period without being registered. Therefore, the actual number of Belgians living in Bulgaria on a permanent basis is even higher.

- Is there an increased interest towards Bulgaria since the country became a EU member?

- The Belgian interest in Bulgaria is not at all new. Even before its entrance in the European Union, Belgians were very interested in Bulgaria. Large events as the Festival Europalia Bulgaria, which attracted almost 400 000 visitors, took place in 2002, long before Bulgaria’s EU entrance. A variety of joint exhibitions has been organized, and this will continue in the future. Last year we had an exhibition on Belgian modern art (1880-1950). This spring an exhibition on Belgian Contemporary digital art was on display in Sofia. Further on there is an intensive cooperation in the social and the economic domain as well.

- What is the number of Belgian investors in Bulgaria?

- Belgium was among the first ten countries to start diplomatic relations with Bulgaria and has been an important investor in the country from the start. Since 1996 Belgian companies have invested more than 1.6 billion euro in Bulgaria. Belgium (or better BLEU: the Belgian-Luxemburg Economic Union) is the seventh foreign investor.

- In which fields?

- More than 140 Belgian companies out of which 70 investors are active in Bulgaria. After the changes the first large investors came to Bulgaria in the 90’s. They were among others active in the chemical sector and the copper industry, they engaged in mining activities and the brewery sector. More recently, other companies started working with Bulgaria in the sectors of textile, ICT, insurances etc. More recent large investments that came to Bulgaria were KBC group that entered the banking and insurance sector as well as food retailer Delhaize.

- What do foreigners not know about Bulgaria? (something that would attract them)

- There are many reasons why people should visit Bulgaria which are not sufficiently known to the general public. For nature lovers there is a large diversity of landscapes with some breathtaking natural sites and a rich fauna and flora. History buffs have a choice between Thracian tombs, Roman remains, Byzantine and Ottoman architecture, a large variety of monasteries and some interesting socialist style constructions. To top it all off, you have an authentic cuisine with high-quality ingredients, strong-bodied wines, an interesting selection of fruit-based spirits and the option to cure a hangover by enjoying a warm mineral bath in one of the many spa centers.

- What is the relationship between state universities and private universities in Belgium?

- There are almost no differences between private and state universities in Belgium. The awarded degrees have been fine-tuned. For postgraduate studies however, the restrictions are less stringent. The quality of the programs is not dependent on the type of university, but more on the content of the individual classes.

- What is the key to attract foreign students towards (the universities) in Belgium?

- There are different reasons why foreign students are attracted by Belgium. First of all, studying in Belgium means living in the heart of Europe with the European institutions in Brussels close by. Furthermore, Belgians are very proud on their knowledge of different European languages. Master or postgraduate studies can be followed in English or in French. And finally, the relationship between quality and price at Belgian universities is very good. The standards of learning are very high, and the cost is less than in most other surrounding countries.

- In what consists the cultural exchange between Bulgaria and Belgium?

- The cultural, scientific and educational cooperation between Bulgaria and Belgium is based on agreements between the authorities of the Flemish and French Communities of Belgium and the Bulgarian government. These agreements allow cooperation in almost every cultural domain: scholarships for specializations, language teaching, cultural exchanges, scientific cooperation, etc. In 2000 an agreement was signed between the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Flemish Foundation for Scientific Research. In total more than 60 scientific projects have been realized. The cultural agreement between the French Community of Belgium and the Bulgarian government includes among others the “Institut de la Francophonie pour l’Administration et la Gestion” based in Sofia.

Diana Trifonova
Photo: Embassy of Belgium in Sofia

- Hello Mr. Davies, how does the World Ahead program work? What does it consist of?

- What we are trying to do is reach people that don’t have computers. And we have programs that work in PCs. Sometimes for example we help design a child’s PC in school or for healthcare. You need to be connected to the internet so we work with all the telecoms. We do a lot of training. Around the world we’ve trained 10 million teachers. We just agreed to train a million healthcare workers. So they could use a PC in the very emerging areas. So we try and work across all of these and go to areas that people haven’t traditionally brought computers or they are underserved.

- And what about the Intel Teach program? What is it about?

- In the world there are over a billion school children. And probably in schools there is about 5 to 10% PC usage. So many schools have a PC Labs, not all of them use it in the classroom and mostly every kid doesn’t have a PC in the classroom so we try and target that. And only the first thing is teachers may have not grown with computers. The children grow with this technology everywhere and so the Intel Teach program is to get the teachers confident. You don’t need them to learn how to use a computer. You need them to stand in front of the classroom with a computer being couched to show the children all the things you can do with a computer. It’s how you use it to educate yourself and do collaboration and thinking. And we train the teacher for that. Around the world we have trained 10 million in many, many countries for the last several years. And it’s been probably a flagship program. We spent a lot of money doing that. And if we get computers in the classroom that can start transforming education.

- What is your motivation to do that?

- Two reasons. One of course is good business. If you help people use computers then it makes it easier for them to buy more. But also we have a philanthropy side in Intel and we spend about hundred million dollars a year on philanthropy and it is all education. We don’t say we put it in many directions. It’s all education. Science fairs, training teachers, math and science. To try and make education transformed in modern ways is to try to get children interested in math and science.

- When are you planning to start those programs in Bulgaria?

- We are having those discussions right now. And we’d like to do them as soon as possible. We’re bringing the kid’s PC here. We are working with software companies to make sure that the software is good for education and will run nicely on the teacher’s PC. And then we want to bring the other programs here .

- In which countries do these programs work now?

- The teacher training is in about 80 different countries. So nearly half the countries in the world and in most of the biggest ones. Some of them have trained many, many teachers, some have just done a few. We announced a month ago 10 million have been through this program. That is a lot, but there is still a lot more to go. I think in the world there are about 70 million teachers so we have covered 10 million. Now we say what about the other 60? And so we try to scale it up. And what we do is we don’t train the teachers ourselves. We train the master trainers. We train trainers. We equip them, we certify them and we say: “You are now qualified to be a trainer” and they can be in many different regions of the country. They come to our training classes and they can go back to their regions, not just the big cities, but the rural areas and they train teachers. That becomes their job.

- When you decide to start the program in a certain country does the initiative come from Intel or is it the local governments who call you?

- Well we need both. It’s a private-public partnership. What we find is we have very good programs. We know how to train teachers. We know how to bring kid’s PCs. We know how to work with content people. We know how to work with telecoms. It’s like a recipe. And we can bring those to any country. You need the government to want to do this. And where do you focus – do you focus on teachers, is your focus more on universities, because we have programs in universities? We have to find out where is the most interest and where the people care and focus the most. And then we work on that. The programs are all different but they are custom to what the country wants. So if Bulgaria says: “I need this”, then we can do this. But you have to do it with the government support. You need those agreements and then we can work with the PC builders, the software and the telecoms.

- Which in your opinion are the main elements of e-learning?

- The key one is the motivation to do it. What you find is in a number of countries equip every child with a computer quickly. That’s very good but the teachers must be trained and eventually you want the content to be electronic. Not just take the book and make an e-book, a pdf, so that it looks like a book, but you need interactive videos, fun, voice. So the children can understand that and be happy with that. And to do that you need the content people. You need them to bring their interactions with a computer and make it fun, make it capable. And we try to do that on the PCs. And if we do a good job we can create some local industry that will become stronger and you create a few jobs there as well.

- When we talk about e-learning a good example is South Korea where the education is so technologically advanced. Do you think this is the way education should develop?

- It’s going to go that way over time. I mean books are going to be there but you look at people today the way they read newspapers, the way they download music. Look at photography. Fifteen years ago we had to print the film and now today it’s in the computer. You are sending photographs to your friends. And it completely revolutionalized industries. And I think that the music is the same. The film industry is the same. It’s going to go that way because it’s so much easier.

- What are the political reforms a country should introduce in order to give children the 21st century skills they need?

- Two are critical. The computers are actually easily there. I think the first one is to agree to get the teachers trained and equipped. If you are not trained and equipped it’s very hard to start. And the second one is over time to decide: “I want my curriculum to become electronic”. Those are two things that government can do that really don’t cost a tremendous amount of money. If you get those two things you get the foundation.

- When we say 21-st century skills can you name some of them?

- Collaboration is a good one. I want to collaborate and I want to share a design with someone. How do I do that? Computers are a great way of doing that. I want to do critical thinking and problem solving and you can do that on the computer. You can investigate, you can research. You can create. Creativity. I want to create. Industries like with the googles, with the yahoos, and the facebooks, fifteen years ago they didn’t exist. And so the job market is changing from manufacturing to creativity and services and people need the skills for that. This is where they will create their new value and so we have got to train them to do that. And I think that is major.

Diana Trifonova