Armenian Government Allocates Almost Half a Million Dollars to Teaching Chess

The Armenian government today redistributed the 2011 state budget and decided that the Ministry of Education and Science should allocate 177 million 84 thousand drams (about $478,606 US) to the Chess Academy of Armenia to teach chess in elementary school, publish textbooks and teaching manuals, acquire equipment and train teachers.

The ministry allocated an additional 386,100 drams (about $1,044 US) with the aim of acquiring tables and chairs appropriate to playing chess.

According to a government press release, “teaching chess will facilitate the development of mental capacity in schoolchildren.”

Editor’s Note: There is a possibility that the government press release omitted the word “thousand” after the 386,100 drams which are to be used for acquiring tables and chairs (as providing all schools with this furniture would cost more than $1,044 US) and thus the figure might actually be 386 million 100 thousand drams (about $1,043,514 US). This would mean that the government has allocated nearly $1.5 million US (and not half a million dollars) to teaching chess to schoolchildren.