Representatives from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports provided an update on kindergarten and school registration, university tuition and other information related to the new academic year on Tuesday.

Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Sports Yo.Baatarbileg, Deputy Minister G.Ganbayar and State Secretary B.Bayarsaikhan attended the press conference.

The ministry estimates that over 10,000 students will enroll into local universities. On average, university tuition in Ulaanbaatar ranges between 1.6 million MNT and 3.6 million MNT. The national tuition rate will reportedly be finalized by August 25.

“The number of university students used to increase by 30,000 to 40,000 in the past but this year, around 10,000 students will enter university. This is connected to the age structure of the population,” stated Minister Yo.Baatarbileg. “The curriculum is being improved for the 2019-2020 academic year. This will ensure there is no delay in the contents, teachers aren’t overworked, and parents are more involved.”

Last year, the ministry revoked licenses of five higher education institutions. The minister shared plans to further reduce the number of higher education institutions by merging them and improving their quality.

As for general education, around 50,000 more students will enter general education schools, increasing the number of new enrollers to 644,000 students this year. This year, 275,800 children will enter kindergartens. The online registration for public kindergartens will end on August 22.

As part of the School Bus Project, new buses were given to Songinokhairkhan District’s School No. 123, Nalaikh District’s School No. 103, and Khan-Uul District’s School No. 10.

The Ulaanbaatar Traffic Police Department and Ulaanbaatar Transportation Office are inspecting school buses from August 19 to 23 to ensure students are transported safely.

Through state funding, 92 kindergartens and schools are under construction and before the new school year, the ministry hopes to open 14 schools for 6,280 students and 29 kindergartens with a capacity of 4,635 children. This year, 1.7 billion MNT was spent on maintenance and repair of 137 schools and 762.2 million MNT on repairs of 231 kindergartens, according to the minister.

Regarding school breaks, Minister Yo.Baatarbileg said, “We have approved schedules for school vacations during the 2019-2020 academic year. Primary schools will operate for 32 weeks and middle schools for 33 weeks. The vacation period will differ for schools in the capital and those outside of the capital. For instance, city students will be on a long break in winter but students living outside of Ulaanbaatar will have a long spring break as this is when livestock deliver offspring. Summer break will start at the end of May.”