YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The educational reforms being implemented in Armenia will become complete in the complex program on the Development of Education until 2015 to be presented to the government in the near future, where all the program reforms being implemented from general education up to the special one will be included. This statement was made by Levon Mkrtchian, the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, at the brief press conference held at the end of the year on December 25. In the words of the Minister, this document is a guiding principle for the sphere of education as it has a tendency towards continuous reforms and if "we are able to lead it as far as 2020-2025, Armenia will become a country rendering scinetific educational services in the region." Levon Mkrtchian touched upon the most pitiful, that is the pre-school problem of the sphere of education, which has not received financing from the budget so far. According to him, this system lives on local self-government bodies and is in a state of neglect: "it has no state control, there are no building conditions at all." And the reform problem of the senior school is an urgent one at present in the sphere of general education, which will resolutely eliminate the school-higher education institution barrier. 30 test senior schools will open in all the regions of Armenia in 2008, 4 out of which in Yerevan. According to the Minister, 2008 will be turning for the sphere of education of Armenia as the results of the holding of centralized final and higher education institutional examinations will finally become clear: "in case of holding them with success, we will smoothly pass from school to higher education institution and the corruption risks will be reduced." Levon Mkrtchian mentioned that in 2008 school-leavers will take centralized examinations in a number of subjects, including the foreign language, mathematics, the Armenian language and literature. Touching upon the "Days of Azerbaijan" cultural undertaking held lately in the Mkhitar Sebastatsi educational complex, the Minister mentioned that the name and contents of that event do not correspond to each other, since "days are usually held in friend countries and under this circumstance the event was more dedicated to the search for conciliation ways."

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