This session will concentrate on review of the general education (including pre-primary) sector in Armenia through presentation of the results of a holistic education sector review and a number of thematic studies as well their subsequent validation by a multi-stakeholder groups comprised of policy-makers, development partners, local CSOs and main beneficiary group for each study. These studies have been conducted through the Education Sector Plan Development Grant (ESPDG) provided to the Republic of Armenia (RA) by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and administered by UNICEF through its role of Grant Agent.

The analytical work conducted is expected to establish the culture of systematic, timely and participatory sector analysis in the country by following and localizing the GPE methodological guidelines. The six analytical pieces included in the education sector review and the five thematic studies conducted, collectively, are expected to serve as a solid foundation and a diagnostical tool allowing for the thorough assessment, expansion and ensuring comprehensiveness of the drafted and subsequent education strategies.  

Together with presenting the main findings from each of these six studies (five thematic studies and education sector review) the session expects to present and discuss the approach to data validation.

The five thematic studies conducted within this project were:

1. Equity and Fairness-Oriented Analysis of School Classroom Assessment Practices to Identify Policy Recommendations for Improvement of Student Learning Outcomes, 
2. Analysis of School Teacher Management System in Armenia,
3. Feasibility Analysis of the National School Management and Governance Approaches,
4. Comprehensive Sectoral Analysis of Pre-Primary Education,
5. Analysis of Armenia’s National Learning Assessment System.

The Education Sector Review consisted of the following components:

1. Analysis of the socio-demographic, humanitarian and emergency contexts and respective past trends and future prospects affecting the school (preschool) education sector.
2.  Analysis of the school (preschool) education budget and spending, macro-economic and public finance context affecting the education sector.
3. Analysis of politico-institutional macro-level context affecting policymaking in the education sector.
4.  Analysis of the school (preschool) enrollment capacity, enrollment monitoring mechanisms, school (preschool) coverage and internal efficiency.
5. Analysis of the impact of school (preschool) education on national economic and human development goals.
6. Analysis of the school infrastructure, with a focus on assessing full-scale needs of school infrastructure development (including cost analysis, cost-efficient, secure, accessible, disaster-proof and child-centered models).

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