In cooperation with the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, UNICEF Armenia Office and the UN Armenia Office, the national youth consultation on "Transforming Education" was held at “AYB” school.

Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, Arthur Martirosyan, Acting UN Armenia Resident Coordinator Lila Pieters Yahia, and UNICEF Representative to Armenia Christine Weigand, attended the event and delivered greeting speeches.

The objective of the youth consultation was to uncover current challenges of education in Armenia and its management environment and to develop a common vision, as well as an action plan to accelerate the progress of education within the framework of the 2030 agenda. It was also organized in support of the process of defining and presenting the educational priorities of the Republic of Armenia at the “Transforming Education” Summit which will be held in September 2022 at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.

ESCS Deputy Minister Arthur Martirosyan welcomed the attendees, emphasizing the format of the meeting: “I would like to emphasize that by convening this meeting, we highlight the importance of the youth role in the process of transforming education, since the development of education is primarily carried out for them - the youth. And here it is very important to maintain and develop feedback with them, so that during the entire process of transforming education it will be possible to objectively assess the impact of a particular step, method and tools on the audience.” The Deputy Minister called on to actively participate in the discussions and to freely outline their views. He underlined the importance of active participation of the youth in the development of the RA state program for the “Development of Education until 2030”, which will help to organize the transformation of education more smoothly and without shocks.

According to the Deputy Minister, due to the current global challenges, big changes are taking place all over the world today, and all this also affects the transformation and reshaping of the education system. As an example, Arthur Martirosyan emphasized the challenges posed to the education system due to the Coronavirus pandemic, as a result of which the widespread use of distance education has brought forward the need to upgrade the transformation of education in a new way. The Deputy Minister also highlighted the issues that arose in the realization of the right to education of thousands of Armenian children as a result of the 44-day war in 2020.

Acting UN Armenia Resident Coordinator Lila Pieters Yahia also welcomed the participants of the consultation.

“We all know what the issues of the education sector are, and your commitment today is to find solutions to them, contributing to the process of reforms of the education system not only in Armenia but also around the world,” noted Lila Pieters Yahia.

UNICEF Representative to Armenia Christine Weigand also highlighted the importance of discussions with young people, stressing that the transformation of education begins with young people as pioneers of change. According to her, the main idea of the meeting is “Nothing about us without us.”

The following topics were covered during the meeting: the impact of the pandemic on the organization of education, methods of education and rethinking the role of education officials, the use of digital tools, and the advancement of schools as healthy and inclusive environments.

The results of the national consultations will be used by the government to prepare for the Transforming Education Summit to be held in September in New York within the scope of the UN General Assembly.