RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan received today the delegation headed by UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini.

ESCS Deputy Ministers Arthur Martirosyan and Araksia Svajyan also attended the meeting.

Minister Zhanna Andreasyan welcomed the guests and expressed gratitude for the consistent and long-standing fruitful cooperation with UNESCO.

The ESCS Minister highlighted the significance of the recent visit of UNESCO mission experts to Armenia on June 16-22. The mission, consisting of 4 experts, held two workshops in Armenia in June on the topics “Providing Technical Guidance on the Management and Funding of Vocational Education and Training in the Field of Information and Communication Technologies” and “Implementing a Technical Tool for Skills Profiling and Job-Seeking” intended for forcibly displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh and citizens seeking for work.

VET policymakers and implementers, as well as stakeholders, participated in the workshops. In parallel, VET-related bilateral meetings were organized and conducted.

“VET education is one of our most important directions. We have already received the report and recommendations of experts, which are truly valuable for us,” said Zhanna Andreasyan and highlighted the support that UNESCO experts provide in the field of skills profiling.

During the meeting, the Minister presented the core targets of the “Education Development Strategy until 2030”, noting that graduates of VET institutions should be competitive in the labor market and have the opportunity to have professional employment. Of the ongoing activities implemented to achieve this goal, the Minister highlighted the legislative amendments and activities towards micro-qualifications and inclusive education. The ESCS Minister further underlined the significance of UNESCO's assistance in providing education to children forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. In particular, together with UNESCO, the Republican Pedagogical-Psychological Center is implementing a program “Inclusion of Forcibly Displaced Children from Nagorno-Karabakh in the Educational Process by Increasing their Psychosocial Resilience”. The first stage of the training was organized by RPPC for about 632 psychologists.

UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini thanked for the reception and emphasized the significance of the large-scale reforms carried out in the education system of Armenia both in the field of vocational education and training and in higher education. Stefania Giannini highly appreciated Armenia's commitment aimed at overcoming challenging situations and prioritizing the realization of the right to education in this context. UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education expressed willingness to continue collaboration in all these areas.

Other issues of bilateral interest were also considered during the meeting.

As part of the visit, the delegation, headed by UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini, will also hold meetings at the Republican Pedagogical Psychological Center, the State College of Informatics, the Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran and the Tumo Center.