eStart@school

In the target region — Bulgaria's lowest-income NUTS region — half of individuals have never used a computer and half of households lack home internet access; the region's technological readiness score is 0 out of 100 on the RCI scale, even though all schools have computers and internet access. A 2018 Gallup International survey found only 15% of teachers in the region felt confident using digital tools in teaching, while over 55% identified a need for further digital-skills training.

Reduce the risk of a late digital start for children in low-income, rural Northwest Bulgaria by training and empowering primary-school and early-childhood teachers to use digital technologies, and building a peer-support platform where experienced teachers advise colleagues.

A three-stage cascade training model: Stage 1 trained a core team of trainers, Stage 2 trained advanced trainers, and Stage 3 trained local trainers, who then delivered digital-skills and innovative-education-technology training sessions to primary school teachers across small rural municipalities in Northwest Bulgaria.

As of 24 October 2018, the Digital National Alliance had run 29 training sessions in 14 towns, training 431 teachers in digital skills for primary education and 336 teachers in innovative educational technologies. A further 17 sessions were planned across 10 more towns for over 300 additional teachers, with a project target of training more than 1,000 teachers in total — covering an estimated 70% of primary schools in the region and around 20,000 pupils.