Armenia adopts law on education in a foreign language

The parliament of Armenia adopted bills "On language" and "On general education" in their second readings today, presupposing in some cases school education in a foreign language. The opposition boycotted the vote, News Armenia reports.

The bill "On language" caused heated public discussion in Armenia. Some political forces considered it to be a threat to the national identity of Armenia. As the result, the government amended the bill.

Today the bill guarantees that the Armenian language is the only one for general school education, but it presupposes a set of international programmes of education in a foreign language in a limited number of schools. These programmes will be fulfilled only in private non-governmental schools. The government cannot establish or sponsor such schools.