Students and teachers alike should be punished more seriously for their mistakes in schools, Education Minister Daniel Vulchev said in an interview with private broadcaster bTV on May 12.

“One of the main problems in the Bulgarian schools is the lack of discipline,” Vulchev said. “The rights and obligations of both parties are not clear enough,” he said.

On May 11, Vulchev said that the proposal of the ruling coalition, made at its weekend meeting in Bansko, to introduce a fine for parents of the children that do not go to school was not expedient. The measure would not solve the problem with the illiteracy among the Bulgarian children, he said.

“Have in mind that some of those families are mainly Roma families and do not have any money, so the fact that we would announce fines for them would hardly lead to something substantial,” Vulchev said.