It is planned to significantly increase funding for school engineering laboratories in Armenia in 2020, said the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Arayik Harutyunyan during the preliminary discussion of the draft state budget for 2020.

According to him, in 2019, AMD 352 million were provided for these purposes, and AMD 672 million are planned for 2020.

“The state finances the salaries of instructors in these circles. If this year a little more than 420 labs received state funding, then the program will be extended to more than 700 laboratories in 2020,” the minister said, adding that equipment for school labs is purchased by IT companies operating in Armenia.

According to the draft budget for 2020, the ministry plans to allocate AMD 179 billion 459 million, against AMD 158 billion 886 million allocated in 2019.