Compensation for Tuition Fees of a Specific Group of Students Not Included in the Free System to Be Discussed

The Armenian government will discuss a draft decision on compensating the tuition fees of students not included in the free higher education system. This issue is included in the agenda for the government meeting on May 21.

According to the justification, the necessity of this draft is conditioned by the need to provide financial support to students studying in paid systems at higher education institutions in light of the state of emergency declared in the Republic of Armenia to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“As a result of the ministry's initiative, a total of 82,000,000 AMD was allocated for the compensation of students' tuition fees in accordance with the government decision number 1464-N dated December 13, 2018, from the reserve fund of the state budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2018. Within this framework, through the Armenian Youth Foundation, students not included in the free system who performed military duty in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia during the period from April 2-6, 2016, (with the corresponding notation in their military records) received tuition fee compensation. For the academic year 2018-2019, 510 students received partial compensation of 20%, totaling 44,661,680 AMD, and for the 2019-2020 academic year (1st semester), 569 students received 10% of their tuition fees, totaling 24,914,496 AMD.

Considering the aforementioned figures, appropriate financial resources have also been allocated in the medium-term expenditure program for 2020-2022 to provide financial support to the aforementioned groups of learners. By including the aforementioned groups of students among those receiving partial compensation for tuition fees during the state of emergency declared in Armenia for the prevention of the novel coronavirus, an opportunity will be created to assist them in overcoming the difficulties arising from the situation caused by the pandemic,” the justification states.