Armenia makes chess compulsory in schools

[UnderseaLcpl]

I hope chess can teach them economics, because otherwise their only move is going to be E-2 to E-poor.

I jest. Badly. But this doesn't make any sense to me. How is spending so much to teach chess going to help Armenia in the long run? I agree, it's great to teach kids chess. It's a wonderful game, and it develops a lot of good critical thinking skills, but do they really have the luxury of spending such a large amount on such a dubious investment when they are in the situation they are in?

I sincerely hope it works out for them, but unless they can get their economy out of check, they're looking at economic mate in just a few turns.