Armenia’s minister of education has announced there will be no end-of-year celebrations for graduating high school students around the country. Known as the “last ringbell”, the high school commencements have a long tradition in Armenia’.

“If we go ahead big events such as these’, we’ll have a contamination. If young people become infected, they might spread the virus to their family members,” explained the Minister of Education Arayik Harutyunyan.

Harutyunyan presented the details about the end of the 2019-2020 academic year and the organization of the 2020-2021 year during a live broadcast on April 27.

Harutyunyan confirmed that the academic year will end with distance learning.

In the coming academic year, during September and October, there will be additional teaching days to fill in the gaps. There are also discussions about starting the school year a week earlier.

General educational exams will also not be held. 

Since the declaration of the state of emergency in the country on March 16 due to the coronavirus outbreak, public cultural events are prohibited.