YEREVAN, DECEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. A large-scale project on furnishing 85 schools in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic's cities of Stepanakert and Shushi as well as Askeran, Martakert, Martuni, Hadrut, Shahumian and Kashatagh regions was launched in August. It is sponsored by the US Western local body of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. The school furniture, including over 1,000 chairs and 1,300 bookcases of various types, is being made by Armenian-American House Construction Union LLC, Gyumri. Part of the furniture has already been sent to Artsakh where the NKR Ministry of Education will distribute it to schools. The Fund reports that this year more than 100 schools have been provided with furniture with the assistance of the Fund's local body in France, and now over 10,000 pupils study in comfortably furnished classrooms.

---