Most children interviewed did not provide a clear and categorical answer on whether they had been going to the village to work as hirelings. The fact that the children were using their mobile phones without restrictions could not escape the inspection team’s attention. RECOMMENDATIONS:       4. Efforts need to be made to improve the living quarters physical environment and equipment by replacing the beds, the mattresses, and the bedding. The children should be provided with storage cabinets in their rooms to keep their personal effects and clothes; All doors to the ground-floor bedrooms should be equipped with locks and handles; All children should be supplied with personal care products, such as soap, toilet paper, tooth brushes, toothpaste, etc.; Efforts should be made towards minimising escapes of children from the boarding school; Actions should be taken to open a health room at the CBS in the village of Kereka; In view of the health status of children placed at CBS and SPBS, the competent authorities should exercise at least once-a-year control of the quality of healthcare services provided to them. ‘HRISTO BOTEV’ SVCBS, VILLAGE OF PODEM, PLEVEN PROVINCE 4.1. Physical Environment and Equipment At the time of the inspection the official number of girls placed at the boarding school was thirtyseven. Four of them had escaped, two were absent on medical grounds (antenatal care examinations), and three of the girls had failed to return after summer vacation. The NPM performed a facility condition assessment at the Secondary Vocational Correctional Boarding School (SVCBS) in the village of Podem and found that the physical environment and equipment were good. The school is housed over two main buildings. The first one houses the administration and the classrooms, while the second building houses the sleeping quarters, the kitchen, and the refectory. The school houses also girls in the so called ‘Dream House’ – a luxurious building with luxury furniture and furnishings constructed with funds donated by the German SES Foundation (http://www.ses-bonn.de/en/about-us.html). That building’s condition is in stark contrast with the condition of the rest of the facilities. The inspection team was left with the impression that the criteria for accommodating girls in the Dream House were unclear. Furthermore, the Dream House building did not appear to be used at full capacity. According to the school’s principal, girls who maintained good behaviour and whose release from the boarding school was impending were accommodated there. However, a check at the Dream House found out that there were only three girls living there and none of them was to be released any time soon. They had been living in the special house for just a few days. Even though nicely equipped, the building was frigid. All bedrooms in the girls’ dormitory were also cold and unheated. It was established by talking to the girls that the central heating would be on for just an hour or two every 24 hours. The NPM received also complaints that the girls showered with cold water as the shower rooms in the boarding school did not have running hot water. The NPM team found out that the boarding school administration had clearly been given a heads-up on the team’s visit, given that three more boarding schools had also been inspected that same week. For that reason, all rooms had been prepared and diligently cleaned. All corridor floors had been covered, especially for the occasion, with carpets. In talking to the girls, they shared that they had been woken up early that morning and made clean the yard and the 59