The government has approved a new funding model for the promotion of private preschool services, whereby preschool services for 5-6 year old children in some urban areas will also be outsourced to the private sector. “Armenpress”according to the report, the relevant decision was adopted at the Government session.
The decision is due to the need to ensure the results defined by the state program for the development of RA education until 2030. The plan envisages that at least 95 percent of children aged 3-5 will be enrolled in preschool services, and all school-entering children will be enrolled in preschool programs for at least one year before entering school.
As a result of the programs implemented by the government, including the construction, reconstruction, repair and overhaul of 500 kindergartens and preschools, by 2025 the enrollment of 3-5 year olds in the preschool education system was 81 percent. Compared to 64.3 percent in 2021, the indicator increased by about 17 percentage points.
According to the rationale of the project, the number of children in urban areas who do not manage to attend kindergarten before going to school due to long queues is still a concern.
In this context, it is proposed to expand the network of pre-school education services in cooperation with the private sector. The new model will introduce a financing mechanism per child with co-financing by the state and the community.
According to KGS Minister Zhanna Andreasyan, considerable work has already been done in this direction, including mechanisms for licensing private preschool services.
The pilot program will apply to those children aged 5-6 who have been on the waiting list for at least 9 months in the community preschool educational institution, but due to the queues or the lack of service of the appropriate duration, were not included in that institution.
Those children will be able to become beneficiaries of the educational program implemented by the model of state and community financing.
