The Ministry of Education Denies Reports of Stopping Transportation Funding for Students in Three Communities of Shirak Province

Today, one of the news outlets reported that the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport has suspended the funding for transportation of students and teachers from the villages of Salout, Vardaghbyur, and Hartashen in the enlarged community of Sarapat in Shirak Province. This was announced by the Information Verification Center.

According to the publication, the transportation costs for children will have to be covered by their parents instead of the state.

In relation to the issue, the Information Verification Center contacted the Ministry of Education and was informed that funding has not been stopped but rather regulated by an order from the minister in 2019. According to the regulations that came into force in 2019, the maximum reimbursement rate for transportation of both teachers and students to school is considered to be the average rates presented in inter-district and/or inter-community route competitions published by the Ministry of High-Tech Industry for that year, and in their absence, 200 AMD (calculated for two directions for each day present).

Thus, the claim that the ministry has discontinued funding, resulting in a financial burden on parents, is false. The ministry also informed that the order is currently in the process of revision. It is planned to set a specific amount per kilometer in case of the absence of a route, and to establish the maximum monthly reimbursement amount for each teacher and school-age child at 20,200 AMD instead of the previous 15,000 AMD.

Earlier, Vahan Minasyan, a resident of Salout village in the Sarapat community of Shirak Province, reported that the operation of the minibus transporting students from their village to a school in a neighboring community has been halted, causing parents from three villages to decide not to send their children to school due to the 12 km journey to get back and forth.

“For years, the governor’s office provided our children with a Gazelle to transport students 6 km to school and then return them to the villages. All expenses were covered by the governor’s office. Now the Gazelle funding has not been transferred, and the children have to walk 6 km to reach the school and come back,” said the resident.