Armenia`s Ministry of Education to implement a number of large-scale  programmes next year - minister 

ArmInfo. In 2025, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (MECS) of Armenia  intends to implement several major programs. This was stated by the head of the department Zhanna Andreasyan on October 29 during the hearings in the National Assembly committees on the draft state budget of the country for 2025. 

In particular, as the minister noted, the implementation of the  program for the construction and repair of 300 schools and 500  kindergartens will continue. Andreasyan emphasized that from 1991 to  2017, 191 schools were built in the country, the overwhelming  majority of which were in the Spitak earthquake zone, and from 2021  to 2024, 223 schools have already been built, are under construction,  and are being renovated, 183 of which are being built from scratch.  The construction of 35 schools has been completed, in which 72  thousand students will study, and this number after the completion of  the entire program will increase to 100 thousand students, which will  be 25% of the total number of students. All these steps, according to  the minister, indicate a consistent policy of the country's  authorities to have a single property standard and building standard  so that students, regardless of their place of residence, have the  same conditions for study. At the same time, the cluster principle  will be applied in rural areas, which will improve not only the  quality of education, but also the effectiveness of the educational  process.

As for kindergartens, Andreasyan noted that the government recently  approved a list of 364 preschool educational institutions, 157 of  which have already completed construction work. This made it possible  to involve 14.5 thousand children in the project. Work is ongoing in  another 207 preschool institutions, which will improve the conditions  for 20.8 thousand children to stay in them. It is envisaged that  kindergartens should operate in all populated areas without  exception. According to the current regulations, there are no  preschool institutions in 244 populated areas. Another program, as  the minister noted, concerns the introduction of modern laboratories  in all educational institutions by 2026. According to the current  regulations, such laboratories have already been created in 648  schools, which is equal to half of all schools in the country.

The Minister also recalled the project for the construction of  Academic Town. Its construction is included in a separate line in the  draft state budget for 2025. This year, work on developing the  concept for the implementation of the project was completed. In 2025,  the final version of the general plan for the town will be approved.  Work has begun on developing a model for managing construction work  on the creation of the transport network of the Academic Town, in  accordance with the agreements concluded with reputable international  partners. The Minister also reported that this year, work has begun  on the formation of educational clusters in the town, in connection  with which negotiations are underway with the world's leading best  universities. Andreasyan also reported that in 2025, the construction  of the Hamazgayin Theater named after Sos Sargsyan will begin. The  project was planned to be implemented within the framework of the  public-private partnership program, but given the financial problems  that the investor has encountered, the state has allocated the  necessary resources to complete the construction of the new theater  building. The Minister expressed hope that the theater will open its  doors to viewers in the spring of next year.

In addition, repair work will be carried out at the Vanadzor Drama  Theater, the Goris State Drama Theater, and other cultural  institutions of the republic. About 1.8 billion drams will be  allocated for the reconstruction and maintenance of 17 cultural and  historical monuments in 2025, and design and estimate work has also  been ordered for 6 more cultural and historical monuments.

New stadiums will be built in Vanadzor and Ijevan. Work will continue  on the creation of Olympic children's and youth sports schools.

Andreasyan noted that the process of teacher certification is  ongoing. According to the current situation, half of the school  teachers already receive a salary of 300 thousand drams or more. This  year, a new teacher certification system was introduced, thanks to  which the knowledge and capabilities of about 6 thousand teachers  were assessed. The innovation, according to the plans of the  leadership of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian  Federation, will allow for the attraction of young personnel to  schools, since at present the majority of teachers are middle-aged  and older people.

In turn, the RA Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan reported that  the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Armenia will  receive from the state budget in 2025 approximately 4.7% or about  16.1 billion drams more than planned in the state budget for 2024. At  the same time, 236.7 billion drams will be allocated for current  expenses, and 125.9 billion drams for capital expenses. Current  expenses will increase by 8.8%, and capital expenses will decrease by  2.3%. Allocations for the needs of the Ministry of Education, Science  and Culture, including expenses for the maintenance of the  administrative apparatus, will amount to 362 billion 627.9 million  drams, against 346 billion 476 million drams for the current year.   Thus, in 2025, it is planned to allocate 15 billion 268.7 million  drams for the vocational education and training program. It is  planned to allocate 14 billion 164.3 million drams for the program of  higher and postgraduate professional education in 2025. In 2025,  funding for the general education program will amount to 132 billion  890.2 million drams. The goal of the program is to ensure free and  high-quality public education. Within the framework of the program,  funds are planned for the education of students of three levels of  compulsory education. In particular: the costs are calculated for the  education of 409.4 thousand students studying in 20.6 thousand  classes of 1,325 general education schools for an average year, as  well as 0.5 and 3.3 thousand students studying in special and special  general education schools, respectively. And it is planned to  allocate 3.999.6 million drams for the out-of-school education  program.  The goal of the program is to promote the physical,  spiritual and aesthetic development of children included in the  general education system, as well as the acquisition of environmental  and applied knowledge. The program provides funds for summer holidays  for 3,200 schoolchildren, the organization of a military-sports camp  for 11th-grade students of state educational institutions of the  Republic of Armenia, as well as the provision of additional payments  to teachers teaching in extracurricular educational institutions. as  a result of certification.

791 million drams will be allocated under the Safe School program.  The goal of the project is to strengthen the disaster risk management  capacity of schools. At the same time, it is planned to allocate  10,717.8 million drams for the program to improve the level of  seismic safety of schools in 2025.

In 2025, it is planned to allocate 90,266.0 million drams under the  project "Creation, construction, improvement of public educational  and preschool institutions". Allocations for ensuring the quality of  education will amount to 16,113.7 million drams. In 2025, funding for  the implementation of the universal inclusive education system will  amount to 3,804.0 million drams.

It is planned to allocate 1,003.0 million drams for the cultural and  aesthetic education program in 2025.  403.6 million drams are  allocated for the development of international and Diaspora  cooperation in the fields of education, culture and sports in 2025.  The goal of the project is to expand international cooperation in the  field of education, culture and sports, strengthen the educational  potential of Armenia in the Diaspora and in foreign countries. In  2025, it is planned to allocate 736.3 million drams under the  information and communication technology investment program in the  field of education. In 2025, funding under the "Preschool Education"  program will amount to 4,031.0 million drams.

It is planned to allocate 27,666.4 million drams for scientific and  technical research programs in 2025.  842.2 million drams are planned  to be allocated to support the development of cinematography and film  production, ensuring the continuity of Armenian traditions and  popularization of cinematography. Within the framework of the  program, allocations will be directed to film production,  preservation of film and photo phonograms, digitization, film art  projects, participation in international film projects (the number of  released films is planned to be increased to 18, the number of  participation in international film festivals, film markets, film  programs - 9). 5459.7 million drams will be allocated for the  cultural heritage program:  the funds will be directed to research  work on historical and cultural heritage, examination of cultural  values, implementation of museum services, provision of unified  automated systems of electronic tickets to museums, work of the  cultural development fund, major repairs of museums, creation of  modular information centers, Armenian architecture, culture and study  and preservation of monuments related to history, popularization of  immovable historical and cultural monuments at international venues,  recording, repair, restoration of monuments.

It is planned to allocate 1783.4 million drams for the book  publishing and library program in 2025. Within the framework of the  regional cultural development program, 444.8 million drams will be  allocated for the implementation of cultural events in the regions,  the organization of public culture and free entertainment, as well as  the creation of a public cultural and entertainment center. Next  year, it is planned to implement two programs in the field of  popularization of physical culture and sports. Thus, it is planned to  allocate 9,425.0 million drams for the <Sport of Great Achievements>  program in 2025, and 6,244.3 million drams for mass sports. It is  planned to allocate 2,385.9 million drams in 2025 for the full  involvement of young people in socio-economic, political and cultural  life and the full manifestation of their creative potential.