The two stages of NSI’s seminar for sharing good practices and discussing the preparation of the upcoming 7th European Statistics Competition for students, which will be held in 2024 under the auspices of Eurostat ,were held on 17-19 November in Pazardzhik and enjoyed great interest. More than 120 teachers from all over the country gathered with the desire to work with their students to increase their interest in statistics, and to develop their creative skills through participation in NSI initiatives at the national and international level.
The seminar was officially opened by Assoc. Prof. Mihail Konchev, PhD, Deputy President of NSI and head of the team organizing statistical initiatives for students in Bulgaria. “The Olympic peak is both a goal and a direction, but the path we take to reach it is more important. It is the path that builds character, and we as teachers, educating young people with the expectation that they will be our successful future, are best aware of this”, said Assoc. Prof. Konchev and reminded the participants that the Olympic statistical peak is not out of reach because the European Statistics Competition in 2022 was won by the Bulgarian team.
Yulia Micheva, Senior Mathematics Expert at the Regional Education Office with the Ministry of Education and Culture - Pazardzhik, and Ana Pavlova - Deputy Director for educational activities at the Vocational High School of Economics and Management in the host city, also welcomed the seminar participants.
The Director of NSI’s “Multi-Domain Statistics, Methodology and Registers” Directorate Mrs. Antoaneta Ilkova, presented all statistics competitions for students organized by NSI, as well as the goals, regulations, conditions for participation and the results of the 6th European Statistics Competition held in 2023, the first statistical Datathon for Bulgaria, the International Statistics Poster Contest, and the National Statistical Essay Competition.
The teachers mentors of the winning teams in NSI’s statistics competitions – Milena Galabinova and Albena Galabinova from Professional High School of Economics and Management - Pazardzhik, Angelina Ivanova from Secondary School “Vasil Levski” - Troyan, Diana Savova from 51st Secondary School “Elisaveta Bagryana” - Sofia and Velichka Stoyanova from Language High School “Vasil Karagyozov” – Yambol shared good practices from the previous editions of the competition. According to the mentors, the fact that the winners in the national round of the European Statistics Competion are awarded an excellent grade (6.00) in the admission exam for applying in all majors in the field of “Economics” at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) also contributes to the students’ ever-increasing interest in statistics.
The participants in the seminar agreed that the excellent joint work between the teachers and the NSI, encouraging even the smallest success, the high evaluation and recognition at the local and national level are more than motivating for young people to continue to give statistics an important role both in their daily lives and in the plans for their future development.
