RA ESCS Minister Vahram Dumanyan received today, Director of the Regional Program “Political Dialogue South Caucasus" of “Konrad Adenauer” Foundation Thomas Schrapel, and Jan Philipp Wolbern, responsible for North America and Europe Offices of the “Konrad Adenauer” Foundation. ESCS Deputy Minister Arthur Martirosyan also attended the meeting.

Welcoming the representatives of the Foundation, Minister Vahram Dumanyan highly appreciated the Foundation's mission in our country and expressed willingness to continue cooperation in the direction of the programs of mutual interest. Touching upon cooperation in the field of higher education, the Minister underlined the possibility of obtaining education at high-ranking universities of Germany for the youth. In the field of general education, Vahram Dumanyan offered to cooperate on the development of textbooks and training of teachers within the framework of the introduction of new standards of general education. The Minister also highlighted the importance of implementing joint educational programs in the STEM fields. In this scope, Vahram Dumanyan emphasized the need to consider the mentioned issues at the conference on artificial intelligence scheduled for January 31.

Director of the Regional Program “Political Dialogue South Caucasus" Thomas Schrapel, in turn, noted that the Foundation has been closely cooperating with the ESCS Ministry for 5 years, and a number of joint programs have been implemented within this framework. He underlined that the Foundation’s activity in Armenia has increased fourfold in recent years.

“Excellent conditions have been created for the Foundation in Armenia, and we have very good partners. These are the preconditions that provide the basis for expanding the scope of our activities,” stressed Thomas Schrapel.

He confirmed the Foundation’s support on the development of a textbook and a methodological manual on the subject of "Social Studies" for schools in Armenia. According to Thomas Schrapel, no other Eastern Partnership country has ever implemented such a program, and its implementation in Armenia is an exceptional phenomenon, which also certifies the interest of the Armenian side.

Thomas Shrapel also touched upon the teacher training program funded by the Foundation, stressing that over the past two years, about 400 teachers from Yerevan and the RA regions have been trained. He informed that the Foundation promotes young, talented and gifted Armenian specialists: 25 students were granted a scholarship. Thomas Schrapel stated that in this direction it is necessary to implement a specific targeted program to support young people.

The parties expressed willingness to develop a new agenda for expanding collaboration, within which new joint programs will be implemented.