Today the EU-supported “Erasmus+ National Kick-off Day 2024” event was held at the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports.

ESCS Deputy Minister Arthur Martirosyan and Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos made opening remarks at the event.

Arthur Martirosyan pointed out that the European Union is a key partner of the ESCS Ministry, and several aspects of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement relate to the ESCS Ministry’s scope of coordination and the Erasmus+ program is a successful collaboration in this direction.

The Deputy Minister emphasized the significance of implementing the Erasmus+ program from the perspectives of higher education reforms, human capital development, and the Armenia-EU dialogue.

According to him, the Erasmus+ program is an efficient tool for Armenia-EU cooperation in higher education, similar to Horizon Europe in science and Creative Europe in culture. In all the specified directions, the goals align with the RA Government's 2021-2026 and “RA Education Development State Program until 2030” targets.

“Institutional capacity building in higher education institutions is an important direction from the perspective of raising the efficiency of reforms in higher education. Human capital development is a top priority for addressing our country's challenges and ensuring state progress,” noted Arthur Martirosyan.

In this context, the Deputy Minister stressed the significance of facilitating the participation of Armenian universities in the Erasmus+ program: “We find it very encouraging that the four programs with guaranteed funding for the 2022–2023 academic year have already grown to eight this year, with Armenian universities serving as consortium coordinators in six of them.”

Arthur Martirosyan noted that the implemented programs should be considered within the framework of the education strategy's goals and the RA Government’s commitments.

“Diversification is probably just a technical word, but in reality we are talking about making Armenia more resilient. Investing in human capital is essential in order to have a knowledge-based economy and also a knowledge-based society. This involves also education in democracy and media literacy, and it is also about how a citizen can be an active citizen. Knowledge and education is essential in this respect. Our current portfolio is more than 350 million euro of ongoing projects. And we have recently announced new Resilience and Growth Plan https://euneighbourseast.eu/news/publications/a-resilience-and-growth-plan-for-armenia/), we have announced 270 million euro of grants. Part of this will be used also to leverage investments,” noted EU Ambassador Maragos.

The purpose of the “Erasmus+ National Kick-off Day 2024” event, organized in cooperation with the National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia, is to present the main objectives and expected results of funded projects implemented by the universities and VET institutions.

Coordinator of the National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia Lana Karlova informed that 12 programs will be introduced to the academic community: “Eight programs are running in higher education, four in VET. The priorities of the European Commission include “green” education, digitalization technologies, an inclusion strategy, and much more. We have several green education programs. Within this framework, bachelor's and master's degree programs are being reviewed and become more accessible,” noted Lana Karlova.

Following, panel discussions were held with the above-mentioned project coordinators in which representatives of higher education institutions, education policymakers, non-governmental organizations, business sector representatives, and other interested individuals also participated.