The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the RA (MoESCS) organized public discussions on budget applications within the framework of the development of the Draft Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) of the Ministry for 2026-2028.

Within the framework of the “Budgets for Citizens” project funded by the European Union “Direct Democracy”, “Media for Education” and “Lusastgh” NGOs participated in the discussion of the draft MTEF application for general, primary and secondary vocational education, which took place on 7 April of this year.

Deputy Minister Ms Araksia Svajyan, Head of Department for General Education Ms Tamara Sargsyan, and Head of the Department for Preliminary (Craftsmanship) and Vocational Education and Training Ms Armenuhi Poghosyan, attended the discussion on behalf of the MoESCS.

In her opening remarks, Deputy Minister Araksia Svajyan presented the draft 2026-2028 MTEF application of the Ministry, addressing the newly introduced programmes, the projected increase of the 2026-2028 budget, and the forecasts of performance indicators, comparing them with the actual data of previous years.

During the discussion the participants raised the issues of their concern.

The “Media for Education” NGO raised several issues related to increasing the weight of the education sector in the gross domestic product, improving the quality of voluntary certification tests, conducting exams through essays, and failure to fully meet of some of the intended voluntary certification outcome indicators.

The issues presented by “Lusastgh” NGO were mainly related to inclusive education, the steps being taken to introduce inclusive education in secondary vocational education and training institutions and to ensure the education of children with special educational needs.

The “Direct Democracy” NGO raised concerns regarding the delay in the construction of kindergartens under subvention programmes, as a result depriving children of their right to education. It should also be noted that the four NGOs that have received sub-grants under the “Budgets for Citizens” project also submitted written proposals for the 2026-2028 MTEF application, regarding the draft for general education sector.

The discussion took place in a constructive atmosphere that promotes open dialogue between the state and public institutions, as well as participation of the civil society organizations in the budgetary process and the formation of educational policy.