SOME ARMENIAN SCHOOLS HAVE 7-8 PUPILS

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01:02 pm | October 21, 2009

Society

The school of Verin Ptghni village, Kotayk Marz, has 87 pupils.

Second- and third-formers have joint lessons as the number of pupils
totals nine.

The school principal says the lessons are held on equal footing with
the teacher concentrating on each pupil separately.

"How can a specialist teach second- and third-formers at a time if
the curriculum is different?" wonders Armine Poghosian, the parent
of one of the third-formers.

Many parents think of transferring their children to other schools.

"If the issue is left unaddressed the school will soon be dissolved,"
say parents.

Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotian shares their concerns
at the same time he dispels the rumours about dissolution.

"There are many schools facing the same problem in the republic. The
phenomenon is common in less populated settlements where some schools
have only 7-8 pupils.

The Ministry needs time to handle the problem. Firstly, we must
allocate transport vehicles to take children from small settlements to
the nearby general school. Besides, some schools need urgent repair
which the Ministry cannot afford now. Therefore, we had better fix a
base school in one of the villages to host all children from nearby
settlements," said the Minister.

Asked how the teacher manages to deal with pupils of different age
groups, Mr. Ashotian said: "As there are few pupils in the class the
teacher is able to give lessons to both classes. Moreover, the teacher
focuses on each child which is not the case with larger classes."

Naira Hakobian, third-year student of Yerevan State Pedagogical
University

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress