22:40, 15 April 2011

Armenian authorities make chess a mandatory school subject

By decision of the Government of Armenia, chess will be taught at primary schools. Officials believe that this will contribute to mental development of younger schoolchildren.

The Ministry of Education and Sciences of Armenia allocates about 177,084,000 drams (about 470,000 US dollars) from the national budget on introduction of a new school subject.

The money will be spent on organizing the teaching of chess at elementary schools, publication of textbooks, purchase of chess appliances and teachers' retraining. Additional funds will be allotted on purchasing the respective furniture, the "PanARMENIAN.Net" reports.

The subject will become mandatory already this year; the country's regions have already started training teachers, the IA "News-Armenia" reports.