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

The Government made changes and additions to one of the previously adopted decisions due to ongoing reforms in the field of education, in particular, the introduction of the state standard of general education. Some technical provisions of the current university admission procedure will also be reviewed. In the 2023-2024 academic year, the standard is tested in the 1st, 4th, 9th and 12th grades of Tavush region of Armenia. As noted by the minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan, the planned changes in the admission procedure will enable the first graduates to go through the new admission system. "For the graduates of the public schools of Tavush region, new opportunities for admission to universities will be established, which is also considered a component of these important reforms in the field of education, according to which, at the end of studies with new educational standards, school final exams will also become admission exams for universities," said the minister. From 2026, this system will already be in operation for all graduates of Armenia.

Commenting on the decision, Nikol Pashinyan noted that this year, the graduates of the schools in Tavush region, and in 2026, the graduates of schools in Yerevan and all regions can use the points they received in the school's final exams to enter a university. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance and necessity of supervising the process and implementing it objectively. In response, the minister informed that the tests are checked automatically. In the future, the entrance exams will be computerized, and the number of exams will also be reduced.

The Government approved the bills of the Republic of Armenia "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia" and amendments to a number of related laws. The proposed regulation is designed to ensure the formation of effective legislative bases in the context of the fight against cybercrime, forming the necessary material bases and procedural tools in line with international legal requirements and taking into account the existing problems in practice. As Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan noted, along with the development of IT, cybercrimes have also increased, reaching a large volume in Armenia, but when we want to get into the content, to understand what cybercrimes are, we notice that there is confusion in the public domain, who think that any crime that is committed in cyberspace or using IT is cybercrime. Meanwhile, according to the deputy minister, there is a clear list of what constitutes cybercrime. "Today we actually do not have such a list, and the first amendment of the bill is aimed at it, so that we define the list of cybercrimes in the Criminal Code", said Arpine Sargsyan.

Referring to the bills, Nikol Pashinyan specifically noted that there is no legislative regulation regarding cryptocurrency in Armenia and it would be right if the first basic law in this package was about cryptocurrency, what it is and how it is used. "What we have talked about crypto-currencies during this time, in fact, we have talked with a negative connotation. We have repeatedly said that they commit crimes with it, sell drugs with it, but they also do the same with the traditional money known to us. We have to deal with this issue. We need to be clear. Do we have a legal regulation, what it is in general, what rules it works with, etc.?”