Our Teachers Are Too Attached to Textbooks, Says Minister of Education

One of the main challenges in our schools is that our teachers are too attached to the textbooks. This was stated by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Zhanna Andreasyan, during a year-end press conference. She addressed the observation that sometimes what is outlined in the curriculum is not included in the textbooks.

“If you look at any other country with a quality education system, good education is when you can use various materials. This also develops the skill to utilize different resources, combine that information, and come to conclusions. We are too attached to the textbook; we seem to think that if A or B is written in the textbook, that resolves all issues within the school, but that is not the case. We can have several textbooks for a subject, and the teacher can choose to use four or five additional materials besides the textbook. It is not mandatory for those materials to be electronic,” she said.

Regarding the 12th grade, she mentioned that they currently do not have new textbooks for these classes, and competitions have been announced that will open next April for the classes where the new standards will be implemented from September of the following year. The minister added that this year, they are transitioning to educational materials, rather than textbooks.