Universal preschool education standard to be applied in Armenia 

ArmInfo.A unified standard will be applied in the preschool education system in Armenia. The  National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, at its plenary session on March 5, introduced amendments to the law "On Preschool Education" in the second and final reading.

According to the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and  Sports of the Republic of Armenia, Araksiya Svadjyan, some technical  amendments were made to the document for the second reading, but the  substantive content of the bill remained unchanged. The Deputy  Minister noted that work has been underway in recent years to  implement the preschool education standard. According to the current  regulations, it has already been implemented in 530 kindergartens.  Within the framework of this standard, there is already a need to  adopt some provisions, in connection with which amendments to the law  are proposed.

In particular, as Svadzhyan emphasized, the document proposes to  introduce the concept of "mentor kindergarten", which will allow  educational institutions and educators working in these institutions  to also conduct training in kindergartens where the preschool  education standard will be implemented. By the way, as the deputy  minister noted, there are 23 kindergartens being put into operation  in the 2024-25 academic year. During the year, 350 kindergarten  teachers were retrained and prepared for the implementation of the  standard.

Another change affects the licensing area. According to the bill, by  2024, all organizations providing preschool education, including  private ones, were to obtain a license, and within this order, 150  preschool educational institutions received a license, 87 of which in  2024 alone.

The proposed amendment stipulates that a license can be obtained by  an organization that has the status of a legal entity. The concepts  of "alternative preschool service" and "preschool service" are also  clarified.

The following proposed amendments concern the replenishment of the  shortage (especially in the regions) of teaching staff in  kindergartens, retraining of nannies, and reimbursement of  transportation costs.

Another proposal concerns the requirement for heads of kindergartens.  According to the current regulation, they must have teaching  experience. It is proposed to establish a requirement for teaching or  scientific and teaching experience.

According to A. Svadzhyan, today about 82,760 children receive  preschool education, and this number is growing every year.