The newspaper “Zhoghovurd” reported on a statement made by Nikol Pashinyan during a meeting in Vayk on January 20. Pashinyan claimed that no schools were closing in the Republic and that a school was actually being built. However, “Zhoghovurd” clarified that schools in Armenia, including Pashinyan’s hometown, were indeed being closed and renovated. In fact, some of these closed schools were even being resolved and sold off.

In another development, the government made a decision on August 17, 2023, to close the “Gugarqi Aveg School” and merge it with the “Gugarqi Himnants School”. This decision was based on the fact that the “Gugarqi Aveg School” was not effectively fulfilling its function. Despite having the capacity to accommodate 460 students, the school only educated 23 students. Over the years, the number of students in the school dramatically decreased, with 107 students in 2015-2016, 38 students in 2019-2020, and finally, a mere 23 students in 2022-2023.

In addition, Mher Melkonyan, the spokesperson for the ANC “Armenia” group, mentioned on his Facebook page on January 10, 2024, that about 40 more schools in the Shirak province, including some in rural areas, were set to be closed, based on decision N 1790-A/2 from September 11, 2023.

Furthermore, on January 20, 2024, an editor from 168.am reached out to Ruzanna Samvelyan, a resident of Meghrashat village in the Armavir region, who expressed her complaint about the government’s decision to close their village school and merge it with a nearby village school. This decision affected three villages: Meghrashat, Burakan, and Oghj. The implementation of this program is set to take place in 2025-2026. Despite these developments, Nikol Pashinyan refuses to acknowledge these closures and mergers. For more information, readers are encouraged to refer to today’s newspaper. (Source: NEWS.am)