"Textbooks Are Important, But They Shouldn't Be Clung To" - Minister of Education

Giving applicants the opportunity to take an exam twice has shown positive dynamics. Today, during a conversation with reporters at the unified examination for the subject of Armenian Language, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia, Zhanna Andreasian, stated this.

"From a psychological perspective, this opportunity has a positive impact; stress levels are lower," noted the minister. According to her, there has been an improvement in the indicators compared to January, with those who have already taken the exam once being better prepared for the June exam.

"For example, I remember the statistics for the subject of Chemistry. In January, only 7 percent scored excellent marks (18–20 points), while in June this increased to 14 percent. Among those who failed, about 37 percent scored insufficient marks, whereas in the second round, this figure decreased to around 25 percent," said Andreasian.

In January, the results of the Armenian Language examination were also concerning; only a few applicants excelled. The minister believes that a fundamental reform of school content is needed to achieve stable results. This also pertains to textbooks. According to her, there have not been any competitions to write new textbooks in substantive terms for more than 10 years. Currently, they are working on creating textbooks with new criteria and are in the peer review stage.

"I believe it is also a matter of time for us to develop a tradition of writing quality textbooks. Writing a textbook is very complex not only from a scientific perspective but also in terms of methodological formation and psychology. A whole team needs to work on it, not to mention a research institute," added Andreasian.

The minister is confident that teams need to continuously work on and improve quality textbooks. Andreasian does not think that they will obtain what they envision and want in the first phase alone. At the same time, she emphasizes that in contemporary schools, textbooks are increasingly losing their significance.

According to her, in developed countries, especially in high school, the educational process is not built around a single textbook, allowing students to acquire broader knowledge. "Textbooks are important, but they shouldn't be clung to," stressed the minister.