“I look through some textbooks together with my child studying in the 7th class, it seems to me the authors of those books have trouble with mental balance. You say – to take from abroad. Why? Were the Soviet textbooks bad ones? I do not live a nostalgy, but…”, “Tsarukyan” faction MP, the President of the Education Committee Vardan Bostanjyan made such a remark during the discussions on 2016 budget execution in Parliament.
Before that, the Minister of Education had been asked about the quality of the textbook by the RPA faction MP Karen Avagyan. The MP had asked why we cannot write textbooks. “We do not have specialists of textbook writing”: told Levon Mkrtchyan. Then he added that in the case of natural sciences it is right to take the licenses and import those textbooks: “It is a bit expensive, but justified. Also, we should have teachers prepared for using those textbooks.”
By the way, the minister informed that the Republic of Armenia has an average level of European education. This has been estimated by non-Armenian experts. However, we have issue with the quality, forasmuch as we want our country to overcome the challenges. If we do not raise the quality, we will not be able to overcome them. While speaking about the problems of public education he informed that after-school programs should be present at schools, groups should work, the second shift should be drawn out: “There is a school which is overloaded, working with 2 shifts, inasmuch as the public trusts that school. You should find a solution, give a building, let it expand, operate, the issue of the nearby schools with lack of load will be solved alike.”
Nelly GRIGORYAN
