The young ethnic Bulgarians in Moldova know well neither Bulgarian, nor the state language and therefore encounter difficulties when integrating into the society, say representatives of the Bulgarian community and officials of the Embassy of Bulgaria in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the president of the Union of Bulgarian Organizations in Moldova Peter Popov, the graduates of Bulgarian teaching institutions meet with difficulties because they know well none of the two languages. “They encounter problems when they want to start their own businesses in Moldova or Bulgaria or when they want to find employment,” Popov said after the scientific conference “Development of Teaching of Bulgarian Community in Moldova: problems and prospects” held in Taraclia town. Teodor Todorov, the secretary for culture, education and relations with the press of the Bulgarian Embassy in Chisinau, said that not all the teachers know Bulgarian well enough to efficiently teach this language. They also don’t know the state language well. He also said that the Ministry of Education and Youth launched enough programs for young ethnic Bulgarians so that they could easier integrate into the Moldovan society. Unfortunately, these programs have not been successfully implemented. “I think that the problem is somewhere in the middle, between the ministry and the education institutions. The schools must also find an efficient integration way through studies,” Todorov said. According to the representative of the embassy, a new strategy for teaching the two languages in Bulgarian schools should be worked out so as to solve the given problem. “The Ministry of Education proposed a number of programs the Bulgarian teaching institutions could choose from. So, they have all the instruments needed to effectively teach the students,” said Ala Nikitchenko, senior consultant at the Education Ministry’s Preschool and General Education Department. She said that Bulgarian language contests and different seminars are held in Moldova every year. They also play an important role in the social integration process. According to official statistics, 67,000 Bulgarians live in Moldova at present. About 260,000 students learn at the 30 Bulgarian teaching institutions.