75% of children aged 3 to 5 involved in preschool education by end of  2024 - minister 

ArmInfo. We can talk about significant progress in the field of preschool education - by the end of 2024, 75% of children aged 3 to 5 were involved in the preschool  education system, while in 2017 this figure was 56%. This was stated  by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia  Zhanna Andreasyan during the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing  Committee on the Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs on  March 18.

She noted that the government's program for the construction,  restoration and repair of 500 kindergartens played an important role  in achieving these indicators. In this regard, Andreasyan reported  that the work has already been completed in 195 preschool education  institutions, 136 are still in progress, and preparatory work is  underway for the remaining 64. At the same time, she drew attention  to the fact that 125 kindergartens included in the government's  program are located in rural communities. "And upon completion of the  program, more than 33 thousand children will have favorable  conditions for receiving preschool education," she said.

The Minister noted that the availability of preschool education is  one of the goals enshrined in the government program. Citing the  results of various studies, the head of the Ministry of Education and  Science of the Republic of Armenia noted that if a child is involved  in preschool education even for 1 year, his results at school are  higher than those of children who have not attended these  institutions. In this context, Andreasyan said that the government  plans to make preschool education mandatory for at least 1 year in  2030.

She also attached importance to the authorities' decision to license  preschool institutions, including those operating in the private  sector. Over the past 2 years, according to the Minister, 155 such  organizations have been licensed, of which 87 in 2024 alone. <They  are attended by 8.2 thousand children. And the process of licensing  private kindergartens is, in a sense, a process of coming out of the  shadows, which allowed us to have a complete picture related to  preschool education>, Andreasyan said.

As a problem, she pointed out that the issues of accessibility of  creches (pre-school education for children aged 6 months to 3 years)  are still relevant. In this regard, Andreasyan announced the launch  of a pilot pre- school education program for this age group of  children in Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor and Hrazdan. If the latter is  successful, it will be implemented in all large communities of  Armenia.