ABSTRACT
The chapter presents the dynamic situation created by the introduction and teaching of the confessional school subject Religion – Islam in Bulgarian public schools and issues related to it (curricula, textbooks, teacher training, inspection) in the framework of three stages, the school years 1997–2002, 2003–2017, and 2018–2019. The relevant legal framework is described: the Constitution (1991), the Religious Denominations Act (2002), and the Pre-school and School Education Act (2016). Special attention is given to the changes made in the concept of IRE in 2018, when the Ministry of Education and Science adopted a new detailed school program for the teaching of Religion – Islam from the first to the 12th grade, along with school programs for the confessional subject Religion – Christianity (Orthodoxy) and the new non-confessional subject Religion. Against this background, future prospects of IRE are discussed in a final part.
