Textbook rental fees for 5th and 6th grade students in Armenia will effectively be reduced to zero, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan announced during a press conference.
Under the universal income declaration system, parents can receive 3,000 drams in social credit to reimburse textbook expenses. According to Andreasyan, parents of more than 300,000 children are eligible to benefit from the measure.
The minister explained that for grades 5 and 6, the amount of the social credit is approximately equal to the textbook rental fee, effectively allowing parents to recover the full cost.
Andreasyan also said that changes to competition policy and procedures in the textbook sector have resulted in an average 26% reduction in textbook costs. For students in other grades, textbook rental fees have decreased by more than 66%.
With the new academic year approaching, the minister urged parents to participate in the universal income declaration system so they can claim reimbursement for eligible textbook expenses.
