Public Complaints About Organization of Educational Process Continue: New Decision Expected

The daily newspaper 'Hayots Ashkharh' reports: According to its sources, complaints about the organization of the educational process in public educational institutions are ongoing. It appears that the number of complaints from both teachers and parents of students is so high that the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Armenia has decided to re-examine several provisions that were included in the guidelines.

This also pertains to the requirement for students to wear masks in schools. As is known, about ten days ago, the Ministry sent guidelines to schools detailing how the educational process is to be conducted starting September 15, which mandates that students wear masks.

This provision has reportedly been met with reluctance from the parents of younger students, who are perplexed about how small children can wear masks for several hours. The guidelines published by the ministry state that during their entire time at school, students and staff must wear masks, and to reduce class times, Saturdays will also remain school days.

Moreover, the number of students in classrooms should not exceed 20; if there are more, classes will be divided into groups, with each group attending class three days a week.

We learned that school directors have compiled all the complaints and submitted them to the ministry, which has decided to make concessions and conduct additional discussions. The ministry is expected to have a new decision by September 15 regarding what to do instead of the blanket mask requirement.

Additionally, preparations are already underway in public educational institutions, with books being distributed and disinfectants being received, yet they are still unclear on how to maintain the necessary social distancing and conduct classes under the new rules. Therefore, it is possible that new changes will occur before the start of the academic year.