Publication: Armenia : Restructuring to Sustain Universal General Education
Date
2001-03
ISSN
Published
2001-03
Author(s)
Abstract
Before the breakup of the Soviet Union,
Armenia had a highly developed and expensive education
system, matching the needs of the command economy. The
country is now facing a challenge to sustain universal
coverage and performance standards in primary-secondary
education with a small fraction of the former budget, while
reorienting the system to the needs of a democratic society
and market economy. The purposes of this paper are to
clarify the case for rationalization by quantifying the
future cost implications and affordability of various
educational policy options, and to identify further measures
needed in Armenia to promote restructuring and to secure
adequate financing of the education system over the medium
term. The paper examines recent evolution of the structure
of inputs and expenditure to general education in Armenia in
comparison with international norms and practice, and
outlines various approaches that have been proposed for
restructuring the system in the context of the
government's sectoral reform strategy. Conclusions are
drawn concerning the depth of rationalization and the
financing strategy that would be needed to sustain universal
access and quality of the system over the medium term.
Finally, some of the practical and institutional obstacles
to actually implementing rationalization are identified, and
measures are proposed to help overcome these constraints.
Citation
“Perkins, Gillian; Yemtsov, Ruslan. 2001. Armenia : Restructuring to Sustain Universal General Education. World Bank Technical Paper;No. 498. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/3c63d924-4bb1-552a-954a-fc61b6e6333a License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”