New Regulations to Ensure Mandatory Preschool Education for 5-6 Year Olds

Proposed changes will enable the implementation of mandatory preschool education for children aged 5-6. Specifically, this pertains to changes in two directions, the first being the unification of the certification process. This information comes from the National Assembly.

Leaders of institutions in preschool, general education, and vocational education sectors are required to have a certification. Relevant changes have been made to standardize the requirements for those applying for certification, as well as the cases for certification termination and general approaches.

This was mentioned by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport, Zhanna Andreasian, while presenting a legislative package proposing amendments and additions to the laws on preschool education, general education, and vocational education at the meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport.

According to the minister, it is proposed to review the certification requirements in the laws governing preschool, general, and vocational education, referencing Article 40.1 of the Law on Education, which establishes unified standards. The speaker noted that this would allow for coherent policy implementation and harmonizing the procedures for conducting certification examinations.

The next proposed change in the legislative package relates to the Law on Preschool Education, which suggests lowering the entry age for preschool to 4 years old. Zhanna Andreasian stated that two age thresholds are proposed: preschool will be established for children aged 4-6, while in communities where only one preschool service exists, it will be possible to provide preschool services for children aged 3-6.

This regulation will enable the inclusion of preschool-aged children and ensure the implementation of compulsory preschool education for 5-6-year-olds in line with the Government's strategic objectives.

The matter was discussed for the first reading in the Committee's meeting on March 17 and received a positive conclusion. The second reading of the draft law proposing amendments and additions to the Law on Audiovisual Media has been postponed for up to two months.