RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan received today the representatives of the Association for Private Preschool Institutions.
On the agenda were the issues of regulation of the licensing process of preschool educational programs in the private sector and proposals and observations submitted by the institutions.

Deputy Minister Zhanna Andreasyan welcomed the participants, expressing gratitude for the dialogue and systematic presentation of the issues and needs of the field.
“We have an acting licensing order, and in the near future, after amending the law, we will face with the issues of expanding the types of activities subject to licensing. This regards not only the preschool curriculum, but also the services. We must jointly decide what the licensing standards should be. The objective of our meeting is to introduce to us the features regarding this issue. The results should be a substantial change in the licensing order, regulation of the field without restricting the provision of quality services. At the same time, we must have State care and control over services for children, excluding the provision of services of questionable quality and content”, noted the Deputy Minister.

The representatives of the Association spoke about their concerns, including the facilitation of procedures, revision of criteria, selection and training of teachers, health standards, etc.
According to Zh. Andreasyan, the pre-school education standards are currently being completely revised with the involvement of pedagogical universities, representatives of specialized structures, psychologists and other specialists. The standard will be based on a competency-based approach, ensuring a smooth transition to elementary school.
“The issue is that whatever program you may implement, you must ensure these capacities: on the way to achieve them, you are given the opportunity of pedagogical freedom”, noted the Deputy Minister.

Concluding the meeting, the parties agreed to study and discuss the submitted draft and, in case of additional observations, submit it to the ESCS Ministry, as a result of which the proposals will be taken into account if relevant.