Educational Inclusion of Students with Refugee Status in Bulgarian Higher Education – Opportunities and Perspectives

The article presents the results of a survey conducted among Bulgarian higher schools regarding their practices related to the education of students with international and temporary protection. Various options for providing training in Bulgarian for such students are considered, and practices of higher schools in organizing courses in Bulgarian as a foreign language are presented. Possibilities are offered for integrating the efforts of higher education institutions in this direction with the accumulated experience of non-governmental organizations in teaching Bulgarian to refugees and persons with temporary protection, such as the Bulgarian Red Cross and Caritas Bulgaria. Other options for easier adaptation in a university environment were also considered – dormitory, canteen meals, scholarships, etc. The question of whether and to what extent it is necessary to adapt the methods and the educational content according to the specific linguistic (sometimes also cultural) needs, on which the degree of understanding of the academic content also depends, is debatable.