Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Ministry of Education and Science 2014 Performance Report Discussed
Chaired by Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan , the Government discussed Ministry of Education and Science report on the main activities and priority tasks in 2014, compliance with the Government’s Action Plan, as well as the estimated performance report.
Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan said several programs were implemented in the period under review to enhance the quality, provide for efficiency and accessibility of education.
A new package of social support for students was introduced, approved was a draft government decree “On establishment of maximum size of tuition fees, according to the levels of education and accreditation.”
The scope of Paros welfare program for vulnerable students and families was enlarged. As a result of the 1070 students got 50-100% refund of tuition fees paid by the State to a total amount of around 225 million drams.
The academic performance of students at universities lava¬guyn nominal krta¬toshak¬neri granting process. winner of 38 students are introduced to the competitive funds innovative program, under which 10 universities received 3.7 million dollars in financial support.
The list of higher educational qualifications was approved. The EU-funded project referred to as “Strengthening of higher education in Armenia for integration into the European Higher Educational Area” twinning project was launched.
The National Architecture and Engineering University, the National Polytechnic University, and the State Medical University after M. Heratsi, as well as the Yerevan State University were transformed into foundations.
A training and certification system for the heads of educational institutions was developed to enhance efficiency in the management of primary and secondary professional institutions. A sample order was approved to enable credit system studies in the primary vocational and vocational educational sector.
An important achievement in the field of public education was the amendment to the law “On general education”, which provides that the educational system shall be universally inclusive by the year 2025, accessible to all children. Note that there are currently 139 inclusive educational institutions operational in Armenia with around 3000 pupils.
The Sustainable School Food program launched in 2009 under the UN World Food Program was continued in the period under review. In 2014, it was introduced in Vaiots-Dzor and Syunik Marzes, and will include Ararat Marz in 2015.
The three-year program of introduction of chess classes in public schools is complete. In addition, it was decided to allow the opening of extracurricular clubs for grades 5-9. Pilot projects in National Song and Dance, Music subjects were approved for grade 5 of 13 public primary schools.
A draft government decree on approval of the State program of patriotic education in 2015-2019 was developed and submitted to the Government. All the schools were equipped with computers and internet connection. Under the “One kid - one computer” pilot program first grade pupils in the public schools of Vaiots-Dzor Marz were provided ArmTab tablets. A pilot project will be implemented in 2015- 2019 was the gradual expansion of the program since 2019. Continuous measures are implemented to reduce corruption risks in the educational sector.
As a result of the licensing process has been licensed to 11 pre-school educational program, general program of 65 elementary, basic general education program 51, 40 secondary educational institution program was implemented in 15 public and private educational institutions in the educational programs of suspension of licenses and termination of suspension of 2 higher educational institution of higher professional education program of licenses, on the basis of a warning Bachelors and Masters degree programs of 10 educational institution.
Performance reports were also submitted by the supervisors of Ministry of Education and Science-affiliated agencies: President of State Committee for Science Samvel Harutyunyan, Head of State Language Inspectorate Sergo Yeritsyan and Head of State Education Inspectorate Aram Karapetyan.
After summarizing the reports, the meeting went on to discuss the main directions of the Ministry of Education and Science activities in 2015. In this connection, the Prime Minister talked about the challenges available in the fields of general education, higher education, vocational education, research, school building and licensing.
Hovik Abrahamyan was particularly interested in the following issues: coverage of general educational projects, development of research activities and scientist incentive programs, organization of graduation and university entrance exams, refurbishment of high schools, modernization of facilities and introduction of modern technologies.
In conclusion, the Premier instructed the Minister of Education and Science, to study the international know-how in order to enhance the efficiency of educational programs, develop science development-oriented programs, submit periodic reports to the Prime Minister on the progress of entrance exams and, finally, keep focus on the quality and timely implementation of high school refurbishment activities.
