Wow, Carolyn, kudos for bringing up the topic here. I was shocked as well when I read the article but it does show the holes in the current system pretty clearly. As a Fulbright English Teacher I've met representatives from the Ministry, and they do seem eager to attract younger teachers and those who will add something more interactive and engaging to the classroom (beyond traditional lecturing). Unfortunately there don't seem to be very many incentives in place for those statistics to change anytime soon. You were right when you said that most teachers take on a second (or third, or fourth) job. And add that to being a full-time mom (the vast majority of teachers being women)! It's amazing what our teachers do, but socially they are not very much respected. This has also changed over time. I heard on the news a while back that 90% of Bulgarian teachers are over the age of 50. And I can tell you from experience in three public high schools that that is no exaggeration. When these teachers joined the profession they were going into a stable and well-respected career path; today, hardly anybody wants to be a teacher anymore. Can you blame them?