Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said late last week that Moscow is now setting up in Tajikistan five Russian-language schools that will have “curricula created on the basis of our methodology.” He claimed that the Armenian government “recently showed an interest in having the same program drawn up for Armenia.”
“There is no such issue on our agenda,” Dumanian told journalists. “At the moment no discussions are taking placing on opening Russian schools in Armenia or Armenian schools in Russia.”
He suggested that Lavrov may have only referred to Russian-backed educational programs in schools in former Soviet republics.
“Any such program deserves attention so that one can understand what it is all about. Let’s familiarize ourselves and understand,” added the minister.
Dumanian also stressed the importance of improving the teaching of Russian and other foreign languages in Armenian schools. The Russian language is a mandatory subject there. Schoolchildren study it for ten years.
Armenian has been the country’s sole official language ever since the break-up of the Soviet Union. A law enacted in 1991 also made it the principal language of instruction for Armenian children enrolled in both public and private schools.
Several public schools have Russian-language sections for Russian citizens as well as those Armenian children who lived in Russia and only recently returned to Armenia. The latter are allowed to study there only temporarily.
Armenia also has five schools financed and run by the Russian government. Most of their students are children of Russian military personnel serving in the South Caucasus state.