High school teachers, pupils, and students participated in the “Cyber Safe Armenia” information campaign in Yerevan. The newly appointed Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, Zhanna Andreasyan, also participated in the event.
Welcoming the participants of the event, the Deputy Minister noted that in the modern world, almost everyone is connected with information technology and cyberspace. “Many scientists today believe that a child should have basic skills in cyberspace, which, of course, is an important issue in terms of safety, effectiveness, education quality and relevance. And when it comes to child safety, early childhood must also be considered. According to statistics, 50 percent of children 3-4 years old in the USA are connected to the Internet, and this means that we need to have accessible and understandable settings to ensure the safe behavior of children and coexistence in cyberspace.” noted Andreasyan, emphasizing that pedagogical approaches are different: as to start technological education at an earlier age or abstain until the age of 12.
“One of the educational reforms today is the issue of changing the content of general education, subject standards, including the state standard of general education, and in this context we also discuss how to organize technological education in general education, what level and outcomes to expect in the end. To take into account all possible risks and challenges, we also plan to hold a public discussion on this topic. We must equip the child with proper knowledge and skills, explain all the possible dangers of being in this space,” emphasized the Deputy Minister.
Head of the Agency for Protection of Personal Data Gevorg Hayrapetyan and Head of Ucom Information Security Department Karen Gasparyan participated in the campaign.
Gevorg Hayrapetyan designed the concept of personal data for the participants. He noted that the information we download online is the user’s solution, but we must remember that it is available to the whole world. In this regard, we need to think about what kind of information we download on the Internet.
Karen Gasparyan spoke in detail about the rules of cyber hygiene, in particular, how to make purchases using online banking cards, how to verify the authenticity of stores, what passwords to create on social networks, how to clean computers and phones from viruses, etc.
The author and organizer of the event, Anahit Parzyan, noted that in the course of technological development, our dependence on digital tools increase, therefore it is necessary to learn for safety.
It should be noted that the “Cyber Safe Armenia” information campaign is aimed at presenting to teachers, pupils and students the dangers in cyberspace and the basic principles of protection against them. The main topics of the campaign are cyberbullying, cyber trafficking, online shopping safety, computer games, and cyber hygiene. Participants will also learn how to create a positive digital footprint that is the digital path to present and future success.
The event is supported by WARSAW Euro-Atlantic Summer Academy, College 0f Europe, Fulbright Poland, The German Marshal Fund of the United States, The Balkan Trust for Democracy, China-Eurasia Council for Political and Strategic Research Foundation, Polish American Freedom Foundation:
