Thursday, October 31 2019 13:42

ArmInfo.A new formula for financing secondary educational institutions of the republic will begin to be applied in Armenia. At the October 31 meeting, the RA  Government amended the decision of the executive body of 2006.

Explaining the draft amendments, RA Minister of Education, Science,  Culture and Sports Araik Harutyunyan noted that according to the  current formula, financing of secondary schools of the republic is  carried out based on the number of students, with the goal of  increasing the level of competitiveness.  However, a significant  portion of schools are located in remote settlements, being the only  educational institutions in each individual region. This problem is  especially acute for rural schools. Due to their small size, they  lose the ability to finance at the proper level. At the same time,  financing is carried out through the redistribution of funds by the  regional administrations and the Yerevan City Hall. According to the  amendments, it is proposed to establish a requirement according to  which the number of classes will be taken into account when the  school is half full. This, according to the minister, is necessary to  ensure adequate funding for the work of teachers, regardless of the  number of students. In particular, we are talking about primary  schools, in which there will be up to 72 students, primary schools -  up to 162 students, secondary schools - up to 207 students, colleges  and high schools - up to 135 students. For high- occupancy schools,  previous funding mechanisms will be applied. The minimum wage for  teachers is set at 100 thousand drams. In this case, the number of  hours of teachers for whom the average rate is set at 22 hours per  week will also be taken into account. With more hours, the salary  will be above 100 thousand drams, but the minimum rate will remain.  With an annual growth of teachers' salaries of 10% over the next 4  years, their salaries will be brought to the level of GDP per capita.  It is also envisaged to exclude the distribution of financial  resources, since for each particular school the necessary amounts of  funding will be established. It is also proposed to exclude  compensation for baby food in primary school, since this provision is  spelled out in the state budget as a separate line.