Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired a consultation, during which the implementation of the Government’s “300 schools, 500 kindergartens” program was discussed.
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan reported that the construction, reconstruction or repair works of 223 schools and educational complexes have been completed or are in various stages of implementation. Accordingly, the construction works concern 183 schools, the reconstruction works – 17 and the repair works – 23 schools. The student capacity of the 223 schools is 72 thousand, and in the case of 300 schools, it will be more than 100 thousand.
Tigran Khachatryan also presented the works carried out in the direction of improving the management of the construction process. According to that, the regulations for improving the purchasing process were established, the necessary capacity development works were carried out for effective management, and the simultaneous coordination of the actions of state, community and private organizations were carried out in order to implement the project on time. It was reported that in 2020-2022 construction and reconstruction works of gymnasiums in 29 schools started.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, in general, construction and reconstruction works of 364 kindergartens and pre-school complexes have been completed or are in various stages of implementation. According to that, works in 157 kindergartens have been completed, 207 are in progress. According to Tigran Khachatryan, the analysis carried out in order to implement the Government’s plan of ensuring access to preschool in all settlements showed that there is no access to preschool institutions in 244 settlements. The Deputy Prime Minister noted that in order to solve the problem, the kindergartens to be built next will be included in the above-mentioned settlements.
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The total budget of the project is 342 billion AMD.
Details of the works planned for 2025 within the framework of the project were also presented.
The Prime Minister referred to a number of issues arising during construction, particularly design issues, which need to be discussed and addressed in the near future. The next observation of the Head of the Government referred to the need to maintain constant contact with the schools put into operation: after operation, it is necessary to return from time to time, talk to people, get acquainted with the existing problems. Nikol Pashinyan also emphasized the importance of having more than one modular design depending on the location and various factors.
The Prime Minister emphasized the definition of standards in the process of implementing the project: functionality, quality, property. “As many problems as we face in the field of construction, we face as many problems in the field of property provision.”
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan informed that currently a process of revision of standards is being carried out so that the acquisition of property is more targeted. The minister said that next year’s property acquisition tenders will be conducted with revised standards, taking into account all studies of international experience.
The Head of the Government also referred to the need to set standards in future budgeting. “We built the building, handed it over, and from the moment of handing over, the process of their wearing out starts. That is, how should the maintenance of that building and property be financed so that to make it serve for a longer time? We have to take into account that at some point that property should go out of circulation and be replaced with new, modern standards-compliant property,” said the Prime Minister.
In this process, Nikol Pashinyan also emphasized the definition of the color standard, which is also of significant importance in terms of socio-psychology. “It is a small but important factor to overcome the psychology of being divided from village to village, region to region, city to city. A person sees that the school in his village is of the same color. We should dispel regional and local perceptions as much as possible through this method as well.”
The Prime Minister gave instructions to the heads of relevant departments to effectively implement the necessary steps to achieve the stated goals, to maintain the construction pace as planned.
The Office to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia
