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Save the Children is recognized by the Armenian authorities as a leading agency and is a pioneering
agency on inclusive Early Childhood Development. Together with the Ministry of Education and
Science, the organization has co-led the development of the Pre-school Education National Strategy
for 2016–2025.
THE PROBLEM:
Lack of development centres
In Armenia there is a serious lack of specialized ECD
centres for disabled children, since the concept of
inclusive ECD centres has not yet been introduced.
In order to ensure the sustainability of ECD interven-
tion and to promote the establishment of inclusive
ECD centres, it is crucial to get an initial commitment
from national and local governments for the inclu-
sion of ECD costs in the state budget. Currently, as
school-based centres are established, the Armenian
state allocates per capita funding to the schools – a
process that was achieved through the advocacy of
Save the Children.
THE DEVELOPED SOLUTION:
Early childhood centres are built
ECD Centres, known as kindergartens, pre-schools,
and nurseries, are the focal points through which
children aged 3–6 years are given access to early
development and learning. These centres serve to
promote the overall age-appropriate development of
children through a cheerful and child-friendly environ-
ment outside the home.
The objectives of Save the Children in Armenia is
to increase access to ECD services and pre-school
education for the most deprived and marginalized
children, including children with disabilities, and to
support policies to create a children-centred inclusive
ECD system in the country.
Save the Children starts with a needs assessment in
every target community in order to understand the
specific needs of children and their communities.
THE MODEL:
All stakeholders come together
The first step is the identification of target com-
munities, which is performed through a three-level
approach:
• At the community mapping level, the team sends
an official enquiry to province municipalities and
requests data for all communities in the targeted
provinces. Next, all data received are reviewed,
including such factors as demographic information,
number of pre-school children, availability of kinder-
gartens or alternative ECD services, remoteness
from the regional centre, and the socio-economic
profile of communities. Lack of any pre-school
services is a primary factor for the preliminarily
selection of communities.
• The field-level assessment seeks to verify the
received data and to assess conditions in the local
schools, particularly the feasibility of transforming
one classroom into an ECD centre. During this
assessment, the project team also meets with
the mayors and members of village councils to
introduce the project and discuss the possibility
of a community contribution of 15 percent to the
ABOUT ARMENIA:
A small, landlocked country
fighting poverty
• The Republic of Armenia covers an area
of 29,743 square kilometres that is moun-
tainous and partly volcanic. Its population
of approximately 3 million inhabitants is
divided into 10 provinces, while the capital,
Yerevan, hosts approximately a third of the
entire population. Armenian mines produce
copper, zinc, gold, and lead, and a large
part of the working population is employed
in the agricultural sector.
• The 2015 UNDP Human Development In-
dex shows Armenia in 85th place together
with Albania and Bosnia Herzegovina, with
a gross domestic product) of $8,124 per
capita and 38.5 percent of the population
below the poverty line.
• There are approximately 207,000 children
aged 0–4 years and 180,000 children aged
5–9 years, representing 13 percent of the
entire population. Currently, 27 percent
of children of six years and younger are
enrolled in kindergartens.