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On November 9, at the joint sitting of the RA NA Standing Committees on Education, Science, Diaspora, Culture, Youth and Sport and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs moderated by Mkhitar Hayrapetyan and Arkady Khachatryan the preliminary debate of the state budget for 2021 continued. The attendees touched upon the policy designed not only in the spheres, but also the existing problems and the steps taken to their neutralization.

The RA Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazyan has informed that 10% growth is envisaged for the expenditures of the education, science, culture and sport in 2021 compared with 2020.

As the RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Artur Martirosyan has informed, the Ministry will carry out more than two dozen programmes and a number of events conditioned by Covid-19 pandemic have been postponed or canceled, therefore financial allocations will not be.

The Deputy Minister also has noted that the draft budget will at the phase of revision, amendments will be made conditioned by war.

The MPs considered necessary to increase the financing of science sphere, particularly its certain branches, as well as secondary professional education sector.

The legislators were also interested in the item of the education scholarships in the higher educational institutions of the children of those deceased in the war. The events aimed at the rise of the schoolchildren’s financial knowledge and media literacy were highlighted.

The Deputy Minister informed that the process of the teachers’ training and certification would continue in the coming year. A number of steps are designed for providing continuity of the education of the children that arrived from Artsakh.

The Chairman of the Commission on Television and Radio Tigran Hakobyan has informed that conditioned by the new law regulating the sphere the functions of the Commission have increased, therefore a little more money is needed.

Afterwards the Chairman of the Council of the Public of Television and Radio Company Ara Shirinyan has noted that abrupt changes are not envisaged in the structure. He has informed that this year the structure has savings, which is conditioned by pandemic and martial law.

Ara Shirinyan considered necessary to continue the technical upgrading of the structure, underlining the need of additional financial means.

In his speech, the Deputy Head of the Chief Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of the RA Prime Minister's Staff Yerem Simonyan has informed that in 2021, the Office will implement three programmes, and eight events are designed within that framework.