Impact

Education For All

According to the Armenian Constitution, every child must undertake 12 years of mandatory government-funded education. However, when it comes to higher education, most parents in rural areas prefer that their children stay to support the household. According to official data, the monthly average income in rural areas is about 20% lower than in urban areas. Also, the need for children to stay and help is seasonal, which makes it more difficult to manage. Even though the government subsidizes part of the tuition fees for children from border villages, the difficulty of getting urban children to school remains.

In September 2018, Yerevan Hub started the pilot of Education for All, a project that aims to support children from border villages to receive higher education by addressing these issues. The ongoing pilot is already supporting a second student from Berkaber village, who is seeking to receive a degree in Computer Science. Yerevan Hub organized a crowdfunding campaign where individuals donated to support the fee of a private tutor ($90/month) in order to help prepare the student for their entrance exams. If the student is accepted at university, the project aims to maintain support via additional crowdfunding that will provide for university tuition and living expenses. 

To scale up the project, Yerevan Hub is currently developing a comprehensive plan that will allow for the engagement of a larger number of children from border villages. The project seeks to evolve into a platform that will provide professional tutoring as well as scholarships to cover tuition and living expenses. The funds to cover project-related costs will also to be raised through a crowdfunding campaign as well as professional fundraising activities, engaging both individuals and private companies.