ArmInfo.The order of basic financing of Armenian science in 2019 will remain unchanged. The decision was made at the February 6 meeting of the RA government.
Presenting the draft decision, RA Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan noted that the basic financing of science is carried out on the basis of the law "On State Budget" and the program of measures to ensure compliance with the provisions of the law. At the same time, financing is carried out in a targeted format and is based on the results of competitions. Those scientific institutions that represent the best projects receive state grants. Nevertheless, as the Minister stressed, the issue of control and effectiveness of using public funds has not yet been resolved, since the state does not control the effectiveness of the work performed.
For this reason, over the next few weeks, research will be conducted, the results of which will determine the criteria for scientific activity, and in the middle of the year a new assessment procedure will be developed. This, according to the Minister, will provide an opportunity to significantly improve the quality of basic funding.
In turn, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stressed that from the point of view of strategy, it is necessary to develop a conceptual basis on which the domestic science will be oriented. According to him, today the field of science, like many other areas, is not at the proper level, and here it is important to understand the expectations of the authorities from scientists and their expectations from the authorities. "It is important that mutual expectations are justified," the head of government stressed.
As early ArmInfo reported, in 2019, allocations for education and science, according to the budget for 2019, increased by 8.8 billion drams - from 129.3 billion drams to 138.1 billion drams. Planned spending on the sector as a whole increased by 12% and, although the figure increased in nominal terms, due to the forecasted higher GDP growth rates, the ratio of the above expenditures to gross domestic product decreased by 0.09% from 2.17% to 2, 08%.