VIDEO: Schoolchildren in the Regions to Engage in Swimming as Government Allocates Funds

The government has approved a pilot program aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle among school-aged children in the regions. Specifically, school-age children will have the opportunity to engage in swimming. "In each swimming pool, there will be two age groups of school-aged children participating in the swimming sport: the first group will include children aged 8-12 years, while the second group will consist of those aged 13-17 years. The maximum number of participants in the first group is 12, and in the second group, it is 10," informed the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Zhanna Andreasyan.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that private swimming pools will be instructed to form groups with a professional coach, and the government will cover the monthly fees. "Our bitter experience shows that no matter how good a decision we make, it often leads to not results but abuse, criminal cases, and so on. We are now approaching this issue cautiously because we need to have mechanisms that truly ensure children go to the swimming pool and engage in swimming rather than simply having lists of thousands of children who aren’t even aware they are champions of swimming, with funds from the budget going to those organizations," he stated.