From July 24 to 26, the City Park in Chepelare will once again host Ex Ante Fest—a three-day economics festival with free admission. This year, the spotlight is on the "Better at Math with Khan Academy" program, a proven model for modernizing mathematics education that is already being implemented in 28 schools across the country.
According to official data from the Ministry of Education and Science released last week, the average mathematics score for seventh-graders nationwide is 38.45 out of 100 points. However, a more alarming picture lies behind this figure: data indicates that 46% of students across the country fail to reach even 30 points on the exam. In the most affected regions, this share exceeds 70%, while in the top-performing region, it is below 30%.
Against this backdrop, this year’s Ex Ante Fest brings together those working directly in the classroom. Galina Isaeva and Maria Brauchle from the team behind "Better at Math with Khan Academy" will discuss the model on July 25 at 10:30 a.m. Donka Doycheva-Popova, an educational therapist and columnist for *Toest*, will present on the early identification of specific learning difficulties in mathematics on July 25 at 1:30 p.m.
Ex Ante Fest was founded by economist Georgi Stoev—creator of the *Ex Ante* podcast on economic thinking—and is organized by Trakia Tech with the support of the Municipality of Chepelare.
