No more outdated food or drugs for boarding schools – official

Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is undertaking the necessary measures to rule out the supply of outdated food or drugs to boarding schools, according to a deputy minister.

Speaking to Tert.am, Sona Harutyunyan said that they have initiated serious work in response to the Ombudsman’s Office’s recent report revealing poor management in several institutions of the above type. The report particularly addressed such violations as the presence of outdated food and drug supplies and failure to observe sanitary norms.

“They are, of course, serious problems, and specific instructions have been issued on each, particularly for maintaining oversight over medical services and drug expiry dates in aid posts, and the sanitary-hygienic condition of children in accordance with the legal acts in effect. So we have to follow all that,” she said, stressing further the importance of ensuring the children’s care and upbringing on an appropriate level.

The official also highlighted the need of personnel training. “Analyses reveal that the employees have on average an experience of 44 years, and they may really be longtime and very good workers, but as life develops, children’s understanding and demands change. So if they are not retrained to acquire proper skills and capacities and to develop the right culture of dialogue with children, their work may yield no result,” she noted.

Avagyan added that the Ministry also periodically organizes preventive activities and conducts evaluations. “I mean particularly the monitoring and evaluation system launched in the social protection sector. Back in 2012, a monitoring and evaluation methodology was developed within the frameworks of a World Bank project, and the concept and procedures of implementation were later approved under a ministerial decree. Based on the methodology, we have conducted studies, which is really huge work,” she said.

“At the same time, attaching importance to children’s protection, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs elaborated corresponding tools in the frameworks of the 2014 annual plan aimed at the monitoring and evaluation of projects’ effectiveness. As a result, a concise report was drawn up, which will be submitted to the minister and interested sides, as well as employees of the Human Rights Defender’s Office on April 6, 2015,” the deputy minister added.