Presentation At The ART

A presentation of two ART supported publications “Education as a Precondition for Development” and “Right to Education” took place in the Seminary Hall of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin on March 28, 2008. More than 60 invitees were representing Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia, National Institute of Education, National Assembly of Armenia, non-governmental organizations involved in educational projects, church related and youth organizations, Theological Faculty of Yerevan State University.
The event started with Lord’s Prayer and a welcome address by Chancellor of the Mother See His Grace Bishop Arshak Khachatryan. Bishop Arshak communicated blessings and words of appreciation by His Holiness Garegin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. His Grace spoke highly of the ART initiative and emphasized importance of education, especially strengthening of value base of the society through education. Fr. Varham Melikyan, member of the ART Board of Trustees, Rev. Fr. Kyuregh Talyan, Pastor of the Church of Holy Mother of God in Yerevan, Mr. Artak Aghbalyan, Director of the Department of Primary and Mid-level Professional Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of RA, Mrs. Melanya Davtyan, Director of the Department of Supplementary Education of National Institute of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of RA presented “Education as a Precondition for Development” and Very Rev. Fr. Hovakim Manoukyan, member of the ART Board of Trustees, Mr. Hrachik Sargsyan, Chairman of the “Association of the Judges of RA” NGO presented “Right to Education” and shared their views on issues raised in the publications. The event was closed by Dr. Karen Nazaryan, Executive Director of Armenia Round Table.
“Education as a precondition for development” is a collection of reports of an educational youth forum held from June 8-10, 2007 in Tsakhkadzor, Armenia. The forum was organized within the frames of “Assisting ART in national educational policy discussions and ensuring quality of ART and its partners through organizational development and capacity building” project supported by EVANGELISCHER ENTWICKLUNGSDIENST (EED). It brought together around 90 young people representing different non-governmental, church related and youth organizations, officials from the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia, National Institute of Education, National Assembly of Armenia, etc. to initiate discussions and sharing over the educational policy and issues as regards vocational training and out-of-school non-formal education. Active participation as guest speakers brought invited guests from Georgia, Byelorussia and Ukraine. The speakers reflected on the present situation in vocational and out-of-school education and outlined perspectives for their development. The results of group discussions carried out during the forum were summarized in a respective memorandum and along with the reports made at the forum were included in the publication. The reports mainly reflect on educational reforms, extracurricular activities, mid-level education, and issues related to the cooperation between different state institutions of Republic of Armenia, the Church and local NGOs.
“Right to Education. Family Manual” was published within the frames of ART supported “Development of Family Library on Legal Issues” project. Through different chapters the manual provides information in the form of questions and answers on essentials in the right to education, and it is meant for general use by wider public. It reflects on state policy in the field of education, narrates rights to education as pertained by the Constitution of Republic of Armenia and legislation, introduces basics on management of educational system, obligations undertaken towards educational rights through participation of RA in international documents.