New Regulations Proposed for Dispatching Teachers to Border and Mountainous Communities

Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasian announced on her Facebook page: “We have presented for public discussion a new draft regulation for dispatching teachers to schools in border and mountainous communities. We plan for the ministry to maintain a database of teachers who are willing to relocate to teach in these areas, and for dispatched teachers, we have proposed a number of new provisions that will create more favorable working conditions.

Specifically:

1. Transportation costs for the teacher and their family members for relocation will be covered only for minibus routes at the rate established for minibus routes. For both minibus and bus routes, costs will be covered at the rate established for bus routes (previously, no funding was allocated for this).
2. Transportation costs for moving necessary household items for the teacher and their family members will be covered up to 50 kilometers at 10,000 AMD, and for each additional 50 kilometers at 8,000 AMD, but no more than 50,000 AMD (previously, 15,000 AMD was allocated for moving costs).
3. Transportation costs for visiting the permanent residence up to four times a year will be covered based on the same criteria as above (previously, transportation reimbursement for up to four visits was allocated).
4. Housing rent will be covered according to the limits set by regions.
5. Utility expenses will be reimbursed at 10,200 AMD per month (previously, only 5,000 AMD was reimbursed for other living expenses).
6. Salary supplements will be offered at 30% of the salary (previously, this was not provided).

We believe these provisions will help temporarily address the shortage of teachers in communities and ensure students have access to instruction in all subjects. We plan for these regulations to take effect from 2021 if adopted.