Epress.am News from Armenia
According to a recent Yerevan City Hall decision, all preschools under the municipality’s jurisdiction will be free of charge; however, parents who are not registered in the city of Yerevan will have to pay 8,000 drams (per month) for each child. This news was announced by chief specialist with the Yerevan municipality’s education department Armenuhi Gabrielyan during a press conference in the Armenian capital today.
“Based on a decision by the mayor, only those children whose parents are registered in the city of Yerevan or who have actual and permanent registration records, will be able to attend preschools that are under Yerevan’s jurisdiction free of charge. If either of the children’s parents is a freedom fighter, then in this case too registration is done free of charge. [The new regulation] also stipulates that children of parents who are performing mandatory military service in Armenia’s Armed Forces will also attend kindergarten free of charge,” she said.
Gabrielyan stated the previously the monthly fee for one child to attend kindergarten was 18,000 drams and as a result of numerous discussions, the amount was reduced to 8,000 drams. The city representative also noted that as of stats procured on Mar. 1, 2011, there are around 25,000 children registered in Yerevan, of which 2,168 are not officially registered in Yerevan.
On the topic of after-hours programs for children whose parents work late and cannot pick them by 4 pm (the end of the kindergarten day), Gabrielyan said there are plans to open after-school programs in more preschools (currently only two kindergartens in Yerevan have this option available to parents).