Center for Education Projects PIU The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports

On February 19 and 23, within the frames of the visit to Armenia, the World Bank delegation met with the PIU program staff at the Center for Education Projects f. Task Team Leader Ms Shizuka Kunimoto, Senior Operations Officer Narine Tadevosyan, World Bank Consultants Anna Malkhasyan, Aleksandr Tovmasyan and World Bank Procurement Specialist Armine Aydinyan were a part of the mission. The discussion of the activities performed within the frames of the World Bank-funded "Education Improvement Additional Financing" loan program was the focus center of the meeting. The guests were welcomed by Grisha Hovhannisyan, Acting Director of the Center for Education Project PIU.
"We have already implemented a lot of work with the World Bank, I am glad for our continuous cooperation," Mr. Hovhannisyan noted. During the meeting, he presented a comprehensive picture of the PIU activities in the context of "Education Improvement Project Additional financing" loan program and referred to the already implemented, current and planned activities within the framework of the program. He noted that as a result of cooperation with the World Bank in the field of education, important and effective programs have been implemented and are being implemented. Even today, "Education Improvement Project Additional financing " loan program is aimed at further improving the quality of education, creating an education system which would meet international standards. Emphasizing the importance of collaborative work, he thanked the representatives of the World Bank for consistent support. During the meeting, the sides touched upon some issues related to the financing gap which was caused as a result of the Armenian dram appreciation against the Euro and the US dollar, In the course of the meeting, some options of solution were proposed, which are currently under discussion by the Ministry of Education, Science,
Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia.
The Heads of the 4 sub-components of Component 1. Enhancing the Quality of General Education and the Head of the component 2 “Mainstreaming of the Competitive Innovation Fund (CIF) for Higher Education Institutions into full implementation “ presented a comprehensive picture of the activities of the PIU in the context of the "Education Improvement Additional Financing" loan project. They pointed out the implemented, ongoing and planned works. The sides discussed a number of issues related to the implementation of micro-projects including the planned establishment of playgroundsthe reconstruction/construction activities in high schools planned under the loan project including the strict deadlines for the rehabilitation/construction related activities, also activities conducted towards the improvement of Education Management Information System (EMIS) including the continuous cooperation with NACET on EMIS improvement related activities. . They also discussed a number of issues related to the provision of natural science and engineering laboratory equipment, furniture and materials to general education schools including the ongoing needs assessment in RA Aragatsotn region, the implementation of grant projects within the framework of the CIF component in the field of higher education. At the end of the meeting EIP/TTL Shizuka Kunimoto highly appreciated the efforts of the Center for Education Projects PIU in the context of reforms in the field of education emphasizing the impressiveness of the results.
Further prospects of bilateral cooperation and other issues of interest were also discussed during the meeting.