New Details on the Progress of the '300 Schools, 500 Kindergartens' Program

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, discussions have taken place regarding the progress of the '300 Schools, 500 Kindergartens' program. According to Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan, the construction, renovation, and design work of 340 schools has commenced and is ongoing from 2021 to 2025, which will serve approximately 130,000 students.

It was emphasized that during the 2021-2025 period, 45 schools have been commissioned—10 renovated and 35 newly built—serving around 20,000 students. This year, it is planned to complete the construction of another 20 schools and the renovation of 70 schools.

It was reported that from 2021 to 2024, 45 schools have been constructed at an approximate cost of 50 billion drams, while from 2021 to 2026, 295 schools are in the construction or renovation phase valued at around 328 billion drams.

Regarding kindergartens, according to the Deputy Prime Minister's report, the construction and competitive phase of 386 kindergartens is underway, which will serve 37,000 children. A clear picture of how the 500 kindergartens will be operationalized by 2026 is already in place. The work has already been completed in 204 preschool institutions.

In areas without preschool services, accessibility will be ensured through educational complexes, while in 162 localities where educational complexes are not planned, one of the following approaches will be applied: the construction of kindergartens has begun in 11 out of 14 localities without kindergartens and with more than 50 students, and it will start soon in the remaining 3. For localities with less than 50 children, the possibilities for establishing a preschool and forming clusters are being studied, and alternative models are being considered for localities with up to 10 children.

All these efforts have been collectively budgeted at 452 billion drams. Subsequently, issues related to the construction and renovation of schools and kindergartens were discussed. Pashinyan instructed the responsible parties to pay close attention and maintain strict control over the quality of work and adherence to the scheduled timelines.