President Serge Sarkisian

YEREVAN (Novosti-Armenia), June 10 — “The president of Armenia has a positive attitude towards the idea of establishing private schools in Armenia in accordance with internationally accepted standards,” said Armen Arzumanyan, the president’s press secretary.

The government’s bill concerning the amendments to the Armenian laws “About Language” and “About Education” which envision the establishment of foreign-language education in Armenian schools according to the current higher educational system, drew wide protests in society. A number of politicians and public figures declared themselves against the bill. They said the bill might be detrimental to national identity.

Armen Arzumanyan explained that “the object of the discussion was not the establishment of foreign-language schools, but the establishment of several private schools in accordance with internationally accepted standards and that the president has a positive attitude towards it.”

“It will allow many gifted children to get a full education within Armenia instead of leaving for abroad. And the study of Armenian subjects will be a must in these schools. Due to such schools the children of the Armenian Diaspora will be able to get education in Armenia and establish close relations with the motherland,” noted Arzumanyan.

According to him, the amount of schools is limited by law and the Armenian government will discuss the establishment of every other school.

Arzumanyan said that the Ministry of Science and Education will account for quality control.

He also expressed regret for those who either act against the amendment to the law without even being familiar with the project details or take the issue to another level by confusing the public with their statements.

According to the law, there will be maximum 15 foreign-language schools, eight of which will be opened in Yerevan. Besides the number of schools implementing a language teaching program of one and the same language cannot be more than five.

Foreign-language education is allowed only in private schools and also in schools that are established on the basis of intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements. The study of the Armenian language and the subjects related to Armenian studies in Armenian is a must for every single citizen of Armenia.

Today there are more than 1,450 schools in Armenia. Among them there are two Russian schools in which only Russian citizens and those who are not of Armenian origin are allowed to study.

Translated from Russian by Yerevan Report