In 2014, there was a health room at the boarding school. However, the healthcare professional
had been let go and the health room was not operational in the 2015/2016 academic year. All
students had been registered with a GP practice in the city of Sliven. They were also on the
patient list of a Sliven-based dentist (some 20+ kilometres away). School supervisors would
take students who needed to see their healthcare providers in their private vehicles and outside
working hours. Medical emergencies occurring at school are responded to by the 24-hour
Accident & Emergency Centre in the city of Sliven. The average ambulance response time is
about twenty minutes. At the time of the inspection there were two students diagnosed with
chronic conditions requiring continued medication therapy. I.N. had been diagnosed with
moderate mental retardation accompanied by grand mal seizures. M.P. had been diagnosed
with epilepsy with grand mal seizures, bronchial asthma, and enuresis nocturna. He required
assistance by a resource teacher in the learning process. M.P.’s seizures were frequent and
severe and his stay at the boarding school involved risks. The NPM considers that the provision
of Article 17, para 3, item 2 of the Rules and Regulations on the Setup and Operations of
Correctional Boarding Schools and Social and Pedagogical Boarding Schools should apply in this
student’s case. The student N.S. had had her pregnancy detected and her release from the
boarding school was impending by the end of the same month. The chronically ill students had
their medicines stored and dispensed by their supervisors. A register entry would be made
accordingly and the students would sign upon taking their medicine. The student’s medical
documents were stored in a separate section of their administrative files. Most students had
had their 2015 annual health screening assessments performed as was evident from the
outpatient examination reports. The students’ preventive health care cards were available but
had no entries made.
None of the children interviewed expressed dissatisfaction with the medical care provided at the
boarding school. Some students complained about problems with the food. Most students
admitted to using tobacco products, as well as psychoactive substances during school holidays.
6.4. Administration and Management
According to its staff establishment plan, the boarding school had a staff of twenty-four
members: one principal, six supervisors, four teachers, one psychologist, one accountant, and
support staff. Staff members were assigned to duty on a rotating schedule to ensure around-theclock availability of teaching staff and safe continuity of child care and responsibility between
shift changes.
The establishment plan had no social worker posts. The absence of such professionals impedes
the process of children’s adaptation and re-integration into their normal environment. It hinders
also the maintenance of family contacts and minimizes the personal approach to child-andfamily-centred casework. To put it briefly, it does not potentiate positive results.
6.5. Protection Measures
During the inspection at the SPBS in Dragodanovo the NPM identified evidence of favourable
psychosocial safety climate. The children trusted the staff and the faculty. Peer interactions
proceeded smoothly. There were no signs of tension between the staff and/or the children.
The NPM team reviewed also the register of bullying and harassment incidents and escapes. A
total of five escapes from the boarding school were registered in 2015.
The alarming fact remains that most court decisions ordering children confined to boarding
school institutions relate to antisocial and delinquent behaviour such as begging, collecting
scrap metal, escapes from institutions for children deprived of parental care. The NPM would
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