ArmInfo.Additional 11.6 million AMD will be allocated from the Government's Reserve Fund for the implementation of a program to provide Armenian students with subscription tickets for free visits to theaters, cinemas, museums, concerts and exhibition galleries. The relevant decision was made on December 13 at a cabinet meeting.
Presenting the draft decision, Acting Minister of Education and Science of Armenia Arayik Harutyunyan noted that the funds will be directed to the development of a platform on the dasaran.am website, by registering on which schoolchildren will receive subscriptions. The Acting Minister continued this tool will help to avoid congestion in cultural and entertainment facilities. Work on the site has begun, and it will fully work since the beginning of 2019. In total, 400 million AMD were allocated for the implementation of the project from the state budget. At present, the first component of the program has been completed, under which over 300 thousand schoolchildren have received tickets. As expected, there will be about 1 million visits in total. At the first stage, the matter concerned only visits to theatres and concerts. Now this list will be expanded with cinemas, museums and exhibition galleries. All the necessary work to provide schoolchildren in museums with tour guides has also been completed. Each Armenian student will be able to attend at least one concert, one museum and one theatre performance. The program will operate throughout the school year.
Arayik Harutyunyan also stressed that the program "Your Science" is under development, in the framework of which schoolchildren will visit scientific institutions of the republic, familiarize with the activities of scientific laboratories, young scientists will be invited to meet with children in school institutions of the country. "Hpefully, these projects will increase the interest of schoolchildren both in art and science," he said adding that the program has aroused great interest among schoolchildren.
In turn, Acting Minister of Culture Lilit Makunts reported that the implementation of the "Your Art" program at the cost of 50 million drams continues, according to which famous cultural figures meet with children in schools, telling about the history of their musical instruments and literary works. In order to implement the project, a competition was announced, to which about 90 applications were received. Acting Defense Minister David Tonoyan expressed great interest in the presented programs, offering to implement them in the military units as well. There was also a proposal not to forget about the penitentiary institutions.