Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport cooperates with regional TV companies, as a result of which video classes are also available on regional TV stations, ensuring greater participation amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, a deputy minister told a news conference on Tuesday.
According to Zhanna Andreasyan, this is a key achievement because, according to the data received from the Armenian regions and Yerevan, certain groups of school students and teachers have no devices to join distance learning.
"We are short of at least 24,000 devices; the data may need additional clarification, but it has been collected at first hand. I think that the video classes and the content we create and make accessible under such conditions ensures the involvement of people, if they lack devices,” the deputy minister said.
Zhanna Andreasyan says that they have already collected 600 devices, including computers, tablets and smartphones, mostly new ones, and have provided them to the provinces together with SIM cards. Some organizations, as well as individuals have donated devices to the ministry, she said.
According to the official, an electronic class register has been launched since March 26, with the education authorities monitoring the distance learning process in separate schools and the work of teachers. According to him, 80% of teachers are already registered there.
According to the information provided by the regions, more than 80% of schoolchildren have access to distance learning, Andreasyan said.
He noted that the ministry cooperates with telecommunications operators and has reached an agreement on an affordable tariff for educational services.
"These services have already been provided by VivaCell-MTS. They will be available for Beeline and Ucom subscribers in the near future," she said.