A regular Cabinet meeting took place today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The Government adopted a decision proposing to provide state support to the parents of missing or deceased serviceman who received medical assistance using assisted reproductive technologies in organizing the care of a child up to three years of age through a babysitter or paid preschool institution. According to the decision approved in January 2022, parents of those who sacrificed their lives for the motherland during military operations should have the opportunity to have a child through reproductive health care and surrogate mother service. In order to effectively organize the care of these children, the Ministry of the Labor and Social Affairs suggests organizing it through a babysitter or paid preschool institutions. It’s planned to provide support in the amount of AMD 104,000 so that care services are organized through a babysitter and preschool institution.

The Government approved the procedure for certifying scientific personnel, scientific and engineering positions in scientific government organizations and the minimum criteria for their assessment. Thus, categories of scientific positions and minimum requirements for each of them are approved, corresponding to the policy of internationalization of science. The document also describes the job responsibilities of each category, thereby defining the range of expectations that the state and society may have from each category of scientific positions. The approval of new conditions for the effectiveness of the work of scientific workers will become the basis for approving the implementation of the national certification program in 2024. The full certification using this mechanism will be carried out in 2026.

The Government redistributed funds allocated to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports for the implementation of capital projects, allocating 510.592 thousand AMD for the implementation of construction work of a number of educational, cultural and sports institutions, as well as improving equipment. The balance resulting from the redistribution in the amount of 804,641.9 thousand AMD is planned to be sent to the government reserve fund.

Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan noted that this process is one of the primary and important issues for the proper implementation of the policy adopted by the state in the fields of education and culture. According to the minister, a number of urgent problems related to heating, roof, bathrooms, etc., will be solved within the framework of the funds allocated by the decision, and for the solution of which all the necessary project budget documents are already developed. The cost of construction works will amount to 322.2 million AMD, which will concern 2 educational and 9 cultural institutions. 188.4 million AMD will be provided to 3 educational and 4 cultural institutions for the purpose of property acquisition.