ArmInfo. By the end of 2023, the Armenian government intends to increase attendance at preschool institutions of the republic up to 70%. This was announced on January 24 by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia Arayik Harutyunyan at the plenary session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, who introduced the draft amendments to the law "On Preschool Education".
According to the minister, currently the situation with attendance at preschool institutions of the republic is directly opposite, up to 70% of children do not attend kindergartens. The government, the minister emphasized, set a goal to rectify the situation by presenting a document that is 80% different from the current law. The bill defines the principles of state policy in the field of preschool education, provides the legal, financial and economic foundations, the realization of the right to receive equal preschool education for all, regulates the legal relations of individuals and legal entities involved in the preschool education, and also aims to ensure accessibility of preschool education.
The main tasks of preschool education will be to create the foundations for the physical, moral and intellectual development of the child, provide the prerequisites for communication in the mother tongue and study the basis of foreign languages. It is also proposed to direct efforts towards the development of elementary counting skills, familiarization with the rules of behavior, elements of native nature and ecology, history and national culture, the acquisition of elementary labor abilities and skills, preparation for schooling. The minister said that according to the bill, the system of preschool education, as well as general education, is supposed to be transferred to an inclusive model. In addition, according to Arayik Harutyunyan, a retraining system for teachers working in kindergartens or nurseries will be introduced in the republic. "We also want to put things in order in private kindergartens. Often we don't know what children are taught in such institutions. We just don't have the opportunity to regulate the educational process carried out in the framework of private educational institutions and preschool educational institutions. However, thanks to this legislative initiative, our opportunities and powers will increase significantly, "Harutyunyan said.
It should be noted that according to the first UNICEF global report on preschool education in Armenia, more than 171 thousand children do not attend kindergartens. However, according to a report by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), in low-income countries, only two out of ten children go to kindergartens. In the villages of Armenia, the same indicator is recorded. In cities, the situation is slightly better. Here, the number of children not attending kindergartens is also quite large. In cities, only four out of ten children go to kindergarten. At the January 24 sitting, the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia agreed with the legislative initiative of the government, adopting the document in the first reading.