“Regarding the masks, I have said that we are following the guidelines that were formerly outlined by the state of emergency command, and now that are outlined by the Ministry of Health,” the Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport, Arayik Harutyunyan, said during a press conference in response to a question about whether or not it is possible to review the decision mandating that 6- to 12-year-old children wear masks.
He said that they will follow the situation this week because it is possible for the guidelines to change. “We have not received serious complaints about wearing masks. Therefore, we do not have any tension in schools. In any case, we did not receive any reports from teachers. We have only received complaints that exist. We are working directly with the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health.”
Regarding the claims people made that the ministry accepted a system that will have an impact on the health of this generation, Arayik Harutyunyan said, “Those children who are in 1st to 12th grade are children growing up in our families, our loved ones’ families, our colleagues’ families, and in the ministry’s employees’ families. I don’t know what kind of ridiculous mindset one needs to have in order to believe that the ministry accepted a procedure or the Ministry of Health gave us guidelines that would have an impact on the health of this generation. I am unable to understand that. We will see if any problems will rise, and we will make changes according to that. There is no need for that right now. The Ministry of Health, taking into consideration the overall situation in Armenia, has made a decision that would prevent the virus from spreading and the need for schools to close again. My personal observations in schools have shown that we generally understood. Do not turn our children into a political agenda because that takes us to a dangerous place.”
In regard to the teachers’ test results, Arayik Harutyunyan said, “We had 6,000 test results as of September 10th, which shows that the number of cases is at approximately one percent, which is a great result for us.” He also warned that random checks will take place at schools.
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In regard to testing at universities, Arayik Harutyunyan said that it would be possible to initiate something.
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