55 schools from RA marzes and the capital Yerevan applied to participate in the competition, which started in April of this year. Until October 10, 2022, schools had to submit project packages with necessary documents and photos. In the end, 24 packages were presented to the organizers.
Special criteria developed for selection include the following sections: quality of garden and harvest, level of involvement, quality of the package, interactive approach, application of eco principles on practice. The maximum total score given by all members of the committee to the school was 336.
The Selection committee included representatives from the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, local and international organizations (the UN WFP, SIFI, the "School Feeding and Child Welfare" Agency, the Fund for Armenia Relief, the "Green Lane" NGO, "Armenia Tree Project" charitable foundation).
All 24 submitted packages were evaluated using the above selection criteria. Based on the evaluation of the Selection committee, the winners were recognized as
- Gegharkunik Secondary School (Gegharkunik marz, 276 points)
- Stepanavan Basic School N2 named after G. Lusavorich (Lori marz, 273 points)
- Nor Geghi Secondary School N 2 named after Yu. Ericyan (Kotayk marz, 272 points).
The first-place school will receive a grant of 3000 USD. The second-placed school will receive a dehydrator, and the third-placed school will receive a freezer.
In addition, there are two nominations for schools that did not win but had notable results.The Best Ecological Project Nomination won Vanadzor Basic School N8 (Lori marz), and The Best Scientific Approach Nomination was awarded to Norashen Secondary School named after R. Harutyunyan (Aragatsotn marz, Tsaghkahovit community). The two mentioned schools will receive incentive gifts.
The first competition of school mini gardens was held in 2021. Positive feedback from the participants - schoolchildren, teachers, parents, agricultural specialists - showed interest in the project and readiness to develop and support it. In this regard, we decided to make the competition an annual tradition.
In December, it is planned to hold a solemn ceremony of awarding the winners of the competition.
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