While kindergartens in Yerevan fall under the jurisdiction of the city's municipality when it comes to care and upkeep, it appears that no agency is taking measures to alleviate the numerous problems faced by pre-schools in Armenia's outlying regions.

Parandzem Khangeldyan, Principal of the Noyemberyan #2 Kindergarten , and who was recognized as being the "Best Educator" in 2001, recently sent a letter to Tavoush Regional Governor Armen Ghoularyan on the matter.

Principal Khangeldyan proposed that they set up a meeting. On June 4, at the office of Noyemberyan Mayor Vanoush Amiraghyan, principals of regional kindergartens met with Regional Governor Ghoularyan. Also present was MP Mikayel Vardanyan who represents the district.

Principal Khangeldyan noted some of the problems. For one, most of the buildings housing the kindergartens are old and in need of urgent renovation. She also noted that teachers only receive a monthly salary of 35,000 AMD even though the law stipulates that pre-school educators should get double the national minimum salary. Professional retraining is also in scare supply.

She also complained about the rigid food safety inspections carried out by various state agencies and the fact that the schools aren't able to meet the high standards imposed.

MP Vardanyan proposed that the standards be lowered if most of the kindergartens find it impossible to comply. He noted that it didn't make sense for the government to heavily subsidize the operation of kindergartens only to have inspectors issue such heavy fines.

Regional Governor Ghoularyan called on the kindergarten principals to see to it that the right people are elected as community mayors and municipal council members so that sufficient revenues are raised within the communities that would facilitate the upkeep of the schools.

During the meeting, there was no discussion of how the school toddlers were being fed on the 3,500 AMD paid monthly by the parents. This works out to a mere 159 AMD for three meals per day and seems an impossible task when the cost of basic food itms has shot up during the past year.

Ovsanna Haroutyunyan, Principal of the kindergarten in the village of Haghtanak, said that she had been forced to write to MP Vardanyan in order to obtain three months' back pay for the teachers and that the legislator came through with the money and that she hopes he will do the same again.

She complained that during a recent renovation of some of the kindergarten's classrooms financed by the businessman Pavlik Ghoulidjanyan, community mayor Vard Khachatryan never once visited the school

Ashot Pashinyan, who heads the Tavoush Regional Administration's Department of Education, said that currently a program was underway in the region whereby those communities without a kindergarten would have several rooms of the local school allocated to pre-schoolers.