School and Education in Armenia

Following independence from the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Armenia has focused on rebuilding the education system. This has mainly led to changes and greater focus on emphasizing Armenian history and culture, as well as changing the teaching language from Russian to Armenian. Russian is still taught as a foreign language.

Land area 29,743 km²
Total population 3,021,324
Residents per km² 101.6
Capital Yerevan
Official language Armenian
Income per capita 9,500 USD
Currency Dram
ISO 3166 code AT THE
Internet TLD .at the
License plate POOR
Telephone code +374
Time zone UTC +3
Geographic coordinates 40 00 N, 45 00 O

The country has a weak economy and almost a third of the population lives in poverty. This characterizes the education system with corruption and lack of budgets to focus on improving the quality of education.

There is a free and compulsory elementary school in Armenia, which is divided into 3-year primary and 6-year secondary school and a 2-year secondary school. The education system is public, but is increasingly privatized due to lack of public funding. Corruption is a problem in the education system and it is becoming increasingly costly for parents to pay for children’s schooling, which includes extra costs for textbooks and equipment.

Illiteracy is intended for approx. 0.6 percent (2017) for the adult population. More than 99 percent of the population are literate and literate. Among those 15 years and younger, 6 percent are illiterate. Already in the 1960s Armenia had almost 100% literacy. See TOPSCHOOLSINTHEUSA for TOEFL, ACT, SAT testing locations and high school codes in Armenia.

Primary school

According to UNESCO, approx. 92 percent of children in primary school. The public elementary school in Armenia is free and compulsory. Children start school when they are six years old.

Secondary education

According to UNESCO, approx. 83 percent in high school. Secondary school is two-year. In Armenia, more girls than boys attend high school.

Armenia Country Flag

Armenia flag source: Countryaah.com

Higher education

Higher education takes place at the country’s 25 state universities and higher education institutions and over 80 private universities and institutes. Over 50 percent of young people continue in higher education.

  • Agooddir: Features recent history of Armenia starting from the second world war to 21st century.

Bachelor’s programs have a duration of four years. Master’s programs have a duration of two years. Doctoral programs are three-year.

Since 2004, Armenian higher education institutions and individual students have been involved in the European Union’s student mobility programs, such as the Erasmus program.