“Chess” as individual subject
Students in elementary schools will take two hours of chess lessons a week starting this academic year, and the chess textbook presentation was held today at the Chess Academy of Armenia.
In his opening speech at the event, Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan proudly mentioned that Armenia will be the first country where chess will be taught as an individual subject in schools. "As for other educational issues, we have taken the examples of European countries," Armen Ashotyan said.
Ashotyan informed that reputable foreign presses have characterized this innovation as a "small sensation".
According to the minister, by learning how to play chess, children will develop their logic and will be ready to take responsibility for their own decisions and become independent, organized individuals.
The government has allocated nearly 900 million drams for textbooks, items and classroom furniture and has trained 1,219 teachers. Chess will also be taught in one of the schools in the NKR.
Armen Ashotyan also mentioned that even though Armenians view this as Serzh Sargsyan's innovation, who is President of the Chess Federation of Armenia, that doesn't correspond to reality. According to Armen Ashotyan, the idea has been discussed and confirmed during the RA Government's session.
