ArmInfo.A grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) was approved for educational reform in Armenia. This is stated in the message of the press service of the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports.
According to the source, since 2018, the department has taken steps to cooperate with the international organization Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which is an organization actively promoting the process of strengthening the education system in developing countries. The goal of the program is to assist in the implementation of a common policy for the development of education by bringing together international partner organizations, civil society organizations and private foundations. To participate in the first stage of the GPE grant program, on the initiative of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, a local educational group was formed, which included representatives of the ministry, civil society organizations, pedagogical associations and the private sector. In accordance with the GPE program procedure, UNICEF was selected by the local educational group to act as the grant agent for the program and the Asian Development Bank as the coordinator. In recent months, the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports has successfully organized the acceptance of applications for the first phase of the program, allocating grants for the development of the education sector. The application was submitted to the GPE organization and received its approval in the form of financial support in the amount of $ 522695. Within the framework of this grant, in 2021, with the involvement of international and local experts, the grantee will conduct a study on topical issues in the field of general education, which will significantly improve the targeting of general education activities in the field of education. In accordance with the GPE procedures, this research grant gives the Republic of Armenia the opportunity to apply for the second phase of the GPE (Education Sector Plan Implementation Grants - ESPIG) program with an expected grant of up to US $ 5 million. According to the Deputy Minister of Education, science, culture and sports of the RA of Artur Martirosyan, the grant can be used both to attract additional resources to the reform of general education, and, first of all, to institutionalize public dialogue and public participation in these reforms. "We hope that the local educational group will become a platform for continuous dialogue on the reform of general education, the most effective measure not only for this GPE program, but for the entire process of reforms in the field of education," Artur Martirosyan said.