The Textbook Can Be Paper, Electronic, or Hybrid: Zhanna Andreasian

Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia, Zhanna Andreasian's statement:

“We have presented the draft regulation on the creation and publication of textbooks and the formation of subject-compliant committees for the assessment of textbooks in accordance with the state standards of general education for public discussion. The regulation defines the state requirements for textbooks, which include the following:

• The textbook must comply with the state standards of general education, the standards of the particular subject and the curriculum.
• The textbook must provide only accurate, scientifically validated, and precise information. If it includes information about hypotheses, it must clearly indicate this.
• Only scientifically circulating hypotheses should be used.
• The textbook must ensure proper references (including electronic links) to all the materials and sources used.
• The textbook should allow for a multifaceted acquaintance with the presented material or topic.
• It should contribute to the learner's understanding, and the language of the textbook should align with the cognitive characteristics of that age group, avoiding unnecessary use of professional and scientific terminology, as well as lengthy sentences, while utilizing as simple and understandable structures and content as possible.

It is anticipated that the textbook can be available in paper, electronic, or hybrid (combined) formats. The paper textbook will have its digitized version available simultaneously. A learner, with written consent from a parent, may opt out of paper textbooks and utilize electronic ones instead.

We foresee that the competition for the creation of textbooks will be distinguished from the competition for the publication of textbooks. Both legal entities and individuals can participate in the competition for the creation of textbooks.

The procedure for the examination of textbooks is presented, including stages for compliance, content, and quality assessment, as well as the procedure for forming evaluating committees through the establishment of a database of experts that meet the established requirements, which will be selected via a computer system.

It is stipulated that the committee should include the following specialists: a subject teacher, an educator-methodologist, an educational psychologist, an Armenian language specialist, an illustrator-designer, and a hygiene doctor.”