RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and UNICEF organized today a conference entitled “Armenia-EU Education Dialogue” supported by the European Union in Armenia.

RA ESCS Minister Zhanna Andreasyan, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos, UNICEF Acting Representative in Armenia Silvia Mestroni, ESCS Deputy Ministers Arthur Martirosyan and Araksia Svajyan, Chairman of the Higher Education and Science Committee Sargis Hayotsyan, along with more than 70 education sector representatives including international and various structures of the Diaspora, attended the conference.

As part of the conference, an education expo was held during which educational, diaspora and 9 IT organizations presented their programs and initiatives aimed at introducing the new standard of general education and advancing educational reforms.

This conference, which is being held for the second time, has already evolved into a format where the Ministry invites its development partners to discuss the progress and current issues of the sector, listen to expert opinions, as well as receive suggestions through dialogue and resource coordination for further steps.

Welcoming the participants, Minister Zhanna Andreasyan emphasized the opportunity to discuss key educational tasks, expressing gratitude to the European Union partners for their collaboration. Regarding the selection of the conference venue, Zhanna Andreasyan mentioned that it was not made randomly: “We initiated the most significant reforms in the field of general education and the piloting of the standard of general education from the Tavush region itself, and those were not easy times at all. While the entire world was focused on maintaining educational continuity during the pandemic, it seemed unreasonable to start the reform process under these circumstances. Given these challenges, we were able to start the process, which was obviously a joint effort as we implemented the program of general education standard reforms with the assistance of World Bank and European Union partners.”

Zhanna Andreasyan informed that two years ago the National Assembly approved the “RA Education Development State Program until 2030”, which is the main strategic document in the field of education. According to her, looking back at the outcomes of the past two years, it is evident that certain adjustments must be made to the action plan and the approaches so that the required changes can be made already in the process of its implementation to enhance the efficiency of the program.

Touching upon the key objectives of the sector, Zhanna Andreasyan gave an overview of the Government programs designed to enhance the attractiveness of the teacher’s profession, which relate to teacher certification, salary increases and professional development. According to her, over 3,000 newly enrolled teachers were registered in the system last year due to this policy.

“People are reacting to the policy, and thanks to this, the teacher’s profession is becoming significantly more appealing. It is particularly encouraging that a significant number of recent teacher enrollments are young individuals: approximately 60 per cent of newly enrolled teachers are under the age of 40, which is a significant percentage. Additionally, I emphasize the significance of the fact that roughly 56% of newly hired teachers work in rural schools: this indicates that the first outcomes of our individual targeted programs designed to address these issues are bearing their first results. Additionally, it is a very crucial year for us in terms of meaningful reforms in general education: in seven classes, the new standard has already been implemented and the next year will be significant for us since nearly all classes will start working according to the new standard. This also raises several issues regarding the correct implementation of the standard by schools. Even the most well-written documents cannot be obtained if we do not have a clear monitoring mechanism if the mentoring system does not function, and if schools do not receive support that would also help them understand the logic of the standard,” underlined Zhanna Andreasyan.

The ESCS Minister highlighted the importance of discussions concerning not only general education but also vocational education and training, as well as higher education systems. As the most significant achievement of the year, the Minister highlighted the adoption of the new law “On Vocational Education and Training” and emphasized the importance of ensuring the proper application of the latter through the introduction of new institutional mechanisms. Zhanna Andreasyan also emphasized the significance of open and sincere discussions on the start of reforms in the field of higher education and the draft of the new law. The Minister emphasized that several institutional changes will result from the new law draft, including the consolidation of universities, the strengthening of the research component, the establishment of new quality standards in the field, and an increase in system autonomy, accountability, and transparency to a new stage of quality and level.

The ESCS Minister pointed out that the participation and assistance of partners are also important within the framework of the “Academic City” program, which is one of the largest and most significant priorities of the Government.

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos, emphasized the significance of maintaining multilateral cooperation in this field: “The European Union has made substantial investments in education in Lori, Tavush, Shirak, and Syunik regions, and for us, this is an important contribution in terms of human capital development and strengthening the sustainability of the Republic of Armenia. We supported STEM laboratories, invested in the reconstruction of secondary schools and preschools, and promoted non-formal education and extracurricular activities. In all these areas and beyond education, it is very important to continue to engage young people so that they have the opportunity to play an important role and contribute to policy development since the policies that are being developed today will directly impact their future lives.”

UNICEF Acting Representative in Armenia Silvia Mestroni emphasized that UNICEF will persist in supporting education reforms in Armenia including technical assistance as part of the Armenia-EU Education Dialogue.

“Today, what was once regarded as a success in education, is drastically different: today, the focus is on assisting children to develop the identity, and cognitive, social, and emotional capacities necessary to shape their society. When teaching children sound knowledge and abilities, it is important to balance these two approaches. Armenia has made progress in both cases, as mentioned in the recent concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child,” noted Mestroni.

At the conference, ESCS Deputy Minister Araksia Svajyan presented the progress of reforms in general education.