RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Araksia Svajyan received today representatives of the UN World Food Program Assessment Mission headed by the head of the mission Frans Van Gerwen.

Director of the “School Feeding and Child Welfare” Agency of the “National Center for Education Development and Innovation” Foundation Satenik Mkrtchyan also attended the meeting.

Araksia Svajyan welcomed the guests and emphasized the significance of successful cooperation and achievements with the UN World Food Program.

Introducing the experience of implementing the “School Feeding” program in Armenia, the ESCS Deputy Minister noted that it has already been fully nationalized and handed over to the RA Government. Thus, starting from January 2023, all students in grades 1-4 in 1,075 schools across 10 regions of Armenia have been provided with hot meals funded by the state budget.

Araksia Svajyan informed the attendees that work is underway to include Yerevan schools in the “School Feeding” program at the start of the 2025-2026 academic year, as well as to provide hot meals in all schools of the Republic.

“Renovation of school canteens, and kitchens, as well as replenishment with equipment and furniture are underway. Including Yerevan schools in the program is challenging and has its own peculiarities since most schools are overloaded and lack appropriate space,” noted Araksia Svajyan.

The Deputy Minister emphasized the significance of the external assessment of the program, which will contribute to the analysis of the outcomes, achievements and challenges throughout the program's implementation.

Head of the UN World Food Program Assessment Mission Frans Van Gerwen thanked for the reception and emphasized that Armenia has a successful example of the implementation of the “School Meals” program. Frans Van Gerwen informed that the assessment results will be available by the end of October this year. As part of the visit to Armenia, the mission representatives will visit general educational institutions of Tavush, Lori and other regions of Armenia, and study the infrastructure and the implementation of the program.

During the meeting, a reference was made to the piloting of the healthy lifestyle circle in the Tavush region within the framework of the new state standard for general education.

“The experience of implementing the new state standard for general education in Tavush and the successes achieved in the schools of the region, as well as the issues and challenges recorded, are very important for us in terms of filling gaps and solving problems in other schools of the Republic,” said Araksia Svajyan and added that the “Healthy Lifestyle” course has been introduced as mandatory part of the curriculum since September in all regions of Armenia and schools in Yerevan for grades 5 and 7.

During the meeting, the significance of efficient collaboration with international partners across different programs was highlighted, along with other issues of mutual interest being discussed.