By Mykhaylo Gryshchenko | Monitoring and Data Expert
Hi!
We are happy to share that Education Without Backpacks presented its 2025 Annual Report during our Annual Association Meeting on May 13. For us, 2025 was a year of scaling. More schools, teachers, students, partners, and donors joined our shared effort to make high-quality, free education accessible to every child in Bulgaria through Khan Academy.
Below are some of the most important highlights from the report, along with recent news from Education Without Backpacks – including changes in our Management Board.Thank you for helping us bring free, high-quality learning to more students and teachers across Bulgaria.
Sincerely,
Education without Backpacks team
More Students Are Learning Effectively with Khan Academy
By 2025, we had 399 teachers trained. Also, we have reached nearly 7,000 students through the “Better at Math with Khan Academy” program. In the 2024/2025 school year, more than 3,000 students were active learners in Khan Academy.
Most importantly, 19% of these active learners mastered 60 or more math skills to Proficient+ level during the 2024-2025 school year. This is the recommended annual learning “dose” for meaningful progress. For comparison, the share of learners reaching this level in the U.S. and other countries is around 7%.
Bulgarian Is One of Khan Academy’s Leading Global Languages
In 2025, Bulgarian language ranked first in the world by translated and edited Khan Academy content during the year. Even more impressively, Bulgarian is now fifth overall among all Khan Academy languages by translated content, after Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.
This means that students and teachers in Bulgaria now have access to one of the richest non-English Khan Academy experiences in the world.
The Bulgarian version of Khan Academy now includes more than 15 million translated words and 7,600 translated video lessons, along with thousands of exercises, articles, and tests.
Teacher Story: A New School In The Program Builds a Weekly Khan Academy Routine
At Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov Vocational Technical High School in Vratsa, math teacher Darina Todorova introduced Khan Academy this school year as a regular part of the weekly rhythm. One of the school’s three weekly math lessons in Grade 10 is now dedicated entirely to Khan Academy practice.
This is especially important in a technical school, where mathematics is essential for almost every profession students are preparing for – from energy and electronics to computer-related fields.
Students who were skeptical at first now ask when they will work in Khan Academy again. The platform helps them break complex problems into smaller steps, work at their own pace, and build confidence. As Mrs. Todorova sums it up in one sentence: “Khan Academy? It is useful!”
New Energy in Our Management Board
At the Annual Association Meeting, Education Without Backpacks also elected a new Chair and new members of the Management Board. Daniel Cholakov, co-founder of the organization and long-standing board member, was elected Chair of the Management Board. He brings strong global technology experience, including work on artificial intelligence and cloud technology projects at World Wide Technology.
We are also happy to welcome Angel Georgiev and Kristina Hristova to the Management Board. Angel is an educational technology innovator with 18 years of experience as a technical trainer and product presenter, including training in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. Kristina has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a degree in economics and mathematics from Mount Holyoke College, and currently leads finance at Daye, a global women’s health company.
All members of the Management Board contribute their time, expertise, and strategic support to Education Without Backpacks as volunteers.
Khan Academy’s Global Leadership Visits Sofia
Sandeep Bapna, Vice President of International Operations at Khan Academy, visited Sofia on April 29–30.
The visit was part of the process of strengthening Khan Academy’s presence in Bulgaria and scaling the “Better at Math with Khan Academy” program. During his time in Sofia, Mr. Bapna met with the Mayor of Sofia, business leaders, partner organizations, and the Education Without Backpacks team.
The discussions focused on how Khan Academy can reach more students and teachers in Bulgaria, how municipalities and companies can support this growth, and what new product developments – including Khanmigo, Khan Academy’s AI assistant for teachers – can mean for Bulgarian classrooms.
Annual Conference: Reflection and Next Steps for the School Year
On May 30, Education Without Backpacks held its annual conference “Reflection: Lessons and Perspectives from the School Year” with the support of the UniCredit Foundation. The event brought together teachers, school principals, institutional representatives, NGO experts, and partners to reflect on the past school year: what worked well, what should change, and how schools can enter the next year with more clarity, confidence, and support.
Teacher Story: Finding the Right Path for Every Child
Burgas Hristo Botev Primary School is situated in the Pobeda neighbourhood with a predominantly Roma population. The school is in its second year in the Better at Math with Khan Academy program. For primary teacher Stefka Kotlyarova Khan Academy works best when it is combined with deep knowledge of the needs of her students. Many of them have reading problems. She carefully selects exercises that match her students’ level, uses Khan Academy mostly in class where she can guide them, and helps each child experience success step by step.
“The important thing is that the platform combines children’s interest with knowledge,” she says. Her experience shows that Khan Academy can support every learner – when the teacher finds the right approach.
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By Mykhaylo Gryshchenko | Monitoring and Data
By Mykhailo Gryshchenko | Monitoring and Data
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