Thursday, January 11 2024 13:54

ArmInfo.Armenia's government has approved a professional retraining assistance programme for the  Armenians forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan stated that the  assistance program consists of three components. The first component  is vocational training followed by compulsory employment for at least  three months, the second component is paid internship followed by  compulsory employment for at least three months, and the third  component is vocational training followed by paid internship and  employment.

In the case of the first component, forcibly displaced people from  Nagorno-Karabakh will be offered vocational training lasting up to  five months. During this time, the employer must decide in which  educational institution and training center the training will be  conducted. The beneficiary of the program will be paid a scholarship  in the amount of 50 thousand drams and another 50,000 drams for  tuition fees.  Then, having presented a certificate of completion of  the training period, he will sign an employment contract with the  employer for a period of at least 3 months and within three months  the employer will be reimbursed taxes in the amount of 50,000 drams.  "At the same time, we will provide both tuition fees and a stipend  for participation days. And if the employer does not sign the  employment contract or terminates it before the expiration of three  months, the beneficiary will be compensated for the scholarship and  tuition fees," the minister said. 

The second component concerns gaining paid work experience and  internships. A six-month contract is concluded between the employer  and the beneficiary, three months of which are necessarily considered  as paid work experience. The authorities will provide the employer  with 165,000 drams monthly to pay the beneficiary's salary and  related taxes. At the same time, after paying taxes, 120,000 salaries  will remain, Mkrtchyan noted.

After completing the internship, the employer undertakes to provide  the beneficiary with work for another three months, for which the  employer is paid a maximum of 50,000 drams per month for three months  to pay mandatory taxes. In the event of termination of the employment  contract concluded between the employer and the beneficiary before  the expiration of six months, the employer is obliged to fully return  the amount paid to the beneficiary as salary from the amount provided  to him during the internship.

The third component involves everything together: vocational  training, practice, and a mandatory condition for employment.

According to the minister, this program has already been tested. It  has already been implemented for military personnel who participated  in hostilities in 2016-2020, and 70% of them remained on the labor  market.

At this stage, it is planned to attract 1000 citizens to the program;  state treasury expenses are estimated at approximately 816 million  drams.