Pghunk's 72-Year-Old School Undergoing Reconstruction

The Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, Suren Papikyan, visited the Pghunk community in the Armavir region, where the only school in the community is undergoing a complete reconstruction. The minister was accompanied by Arthur Sogomonian, Executive Director of the Territorial Development Fund of Armenia, and Samvel Khachatryan, the founder and director of the construction company implementing the project.

According to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, the Tigran Mech Secondary School in Pghunk has never been renovated since its construction. The building had a class 4 degree of emergency, which made it extremely dangerous to conduct educational programs. One of the most critical issues was that only 40% of school-age children could attend the community school, while others were forced to go to other communities for their education.

During his visit to Pghunk in June 2018, Minister Papikyan familiarized himself with the emergency conditions of the school building. He promised the residents and teaching staff that he would work towards the renovation of the school and the provision of a safe educational environment for students.

In December 2018, the only school in Pghunk was included in the program for improving the seismic safety of schools. Considering the deplorable condition of the building, it was demolished, and plans were made to construct a new seismic-resistant building. Currently, construction work is underway for the new wing of the school.

Minister Papikyan urged the responsible parties on the construction site to maintain quality assurance and finish the construction within the designated timeframe. The design of the new school building was presented to the minister, and it was noted that the construction of the modular school is expected to be completed in 18 months. More than 240 students and the teaching staff will soon attend a modern and seismic-resistant school.

The new school will also be accessible for children with disabilities and will have an elevator, heating, fire safety, and thermal insulation systems, as well as a comfortable gymnasium. A total of 886 million AMD has been invested in these works, 16.7% of which is being provided by the government of Armenia, while the remainder is co-financed by the Asian Development Bank.

“The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures is implementing extensive work across the country that, unlike road construction, is less visible to the public. Among these are many programs for school construction, kindergarten construction, water pipeline installation, canal renovations, and various other infrastructure improvements,” Minister Papikyan emphasized.

The minister also visited the construction site of School No. 18 in Yerevan to monitor the construction progress. The school building, originally constructed in the 1970s, was in a state of emergency. Considering issues of seismic stability, a decision was made to completely demolish the building and construct an entirely new school, preserving only the façade of the former building, as it holds architectural value. The new school will accommodate 432 students. A total of 986 million AMD has been allocated for the school's construction, of which 20% is provided by the government of Armenia, and the rest comes from borrowed funds from the Asian Development Bank.