- Armenia’s MoESCS has proposed a draft law to provide additional funding to state schools based on their performance.
- High-performing schools will receive incentives for development.
- Low-performing schools will receive financial support and mentorship.
- Performance will be assessed through a competition and evaluation criteria, including data analysis and external testing.
- The draft is open for public discussion on e-draft.am until May 7, 2025.
The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports (MoESCS) of Armenia has introduced a draft government decision that aims to establish a clear procedure for providing additional financial support to state public schools based on their performance results. The proposed draft is currently available for public discussion.
Project Goals and Funding Mechanism
The core objective of this initiative for additional funding is twofold: to encourage the further development and improvement of institutions that demonstrate high performance, and to provide essential support to low-performing institutions to help them achieve progress. According to the procedures outlined in the draft, the lists of schools eligible for financial incentives due to high performance, as well as those receiving support for low performance and the mentor institutions supporting them, will be officially approved on an annual basis by order of the MoESCS Minister by December 30 of each year.
Identifying High-Performing Schools
High performance status will be determined based on specific, established evaluation criteria through a competitive process organized by the MoESCS. An announcement detailing this competition will be published annually on the Ministry’s official website. To be considered, schools must submit an innovative program focused on institutional development, accompanied by a cost estimate for its implementation over a one-year period. Applicant schools must meet several minimum requirements, including ensuring at least 50% of their teachers have achieved positive results from voluntary attestation, at least 20% of teachers have been granted a qualification category, and at least 5% of students participated in the provincial or community rounds of subject Olympiads in the preceding academic year and had at least one participant reach the republican round. Additionally, the school must have submitted at least three applications to the “Best of the Month” competition during the year. High-performing schools will be selected based on a comprehensive analysis of the results of the innovative programs submitted by all institutions participating in the competition. The total number of high-performing schools included in the list each year cannot exceed 20. A school that is included in the list of high-performing institutions will not be eligible to apply for the competition for the subsequent three years.
Identifying Low-Performing Schools
Low performance will be determined based on criteria specifically designed to evaluate the low effectiveness of a school’s operational activities. An annual evaluation of all state general education institutions will be conducted in three distinct phases using the Education Management Information System (EMIS/ԴԿՏՀ). The initial phase involves the generation of an automated report based on the data available within the EMIS system. In the subsequent second phase, external assessment will be conducted by the Assessment and Testing Center (ATC/ԳԹԿ) in selected institutions, utilizing methods such as evaluating student progress or conducting knowledge tests. In the third phase, a dedicated commission will select a maximum of 30 institutions to receive additional funding as support. This selection will be based on the results of the external assessment and according to a predefined evaluation scale for low-performing schools.
Support for Low-Performing Schools and Mentorship
Financial support designated for a low-performing institution will be allocated based on the financial evaluation of an improvement program. This program is to be developed with the assistance of a mentor school. The funding provided will be equivalent to 5% of the low-performing institution’s annual budget, with a guaranteed minimum amount of not less than 5 million AMD per year.
Evaluation and Oversight Process
Submitted development and improvement programs will be carefully studied and evaluated by a competitive commission. This commission will be chaired by the Deputy Minister responsible for coordinating the general education sector. The commission’s membership will include representatives from key educational centers such as the National Center for Educational Technologies (NCET/ԿՏԱԿ), the National Center for Educational Development and Innovation (NCEDI/ԿԶՆԱԿ), the Republican Pedagogical-Psychological Center (RPPC/ՀՄԿ), and the Assessment and Testing Center (ATC/ԳԹԿ), as well as representatives from the relevant general education and finance/budget departments of the MoESCS, and two independent education experts. Decisions by the commission will be made by a simple majority vote. Control and oversight regarding the implementation of both innovative and improvement programs will be carried out by an authorized body through regular periodic monitoring and evaluations.
Public Discussion and Implementation Timeline
The draft decision concerning the new funding procedure for schools is currently available for public discussion on the unified platform for the publication of draft legal acts (e-draft.am). The period for public discussion will continue until May 7, 2025. If the draft is adopted by the government, the proposed procedure is scheduled to come into effect starting from January 2026.
Source Details
This report is based on information from a news article published by Armenpress on April 28, 2025, detailing a draft government decision introduced by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of Armenia regarding additional funding for schools based on performance.
Source: MoESCS