MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION WAS SIGNED BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RA AND “NORAVANK” FOUNDATION

Realizing the importance of the education for the development of Armenia and aiming to raise the quality and efficiency of education, on November 6 the Ministry of Education and Science, represented by minister Armen Ashotyan, and “Noravank” Foundation, represented by the executive director Gagik Harutyunyan, signed memorandum of cooperation. Speaking about the memorandum the minister mentioned that there had been no strategic, analytical approaches which would allow understanding the real problems, challenges and the ways of solution, in the sphere of education for many years.

“It is important to include also other means in the elaboration of educational policy besides the resources of the ministry. In this context we lay stress on the cooperation with analytical centres and such kind of initiative has been carried out for the first time with “Noravank” Scientific-Educational Foundation”, - said the minister. He added that the second component of the cooperation with “Noravank” was the strategic researches in the sphere of education. “There is also a wide field of cooperation from the point of view that the education is a strategic direction which is fixed in the strategic conception of national security and in this direction we still have a lot to do”, - he stated. The third issue which was presented by A. Ashotyan as a cornerstone of cooperation was the pedagogic function of education. “We have still no system approaches to that issue. The education is not only the academic activity but also the process of instilling to the youth such educatory, social values that would promote the establishment of a full-fledged society and the strengthening of the state”, - mentioned the minister. Speaking about all the directions stipulated in the memorandum, the minister underlined two mutually acceptable priority programmes on which definite steps would be taken. The first programme is the analysis of the content of the school textbooks which, according to the minister, is very topical and which is the “Achilles’ heel” of the general education. “To analyze the textbooks comprehensively we need “delicate” instruments, including informational technologies. We plan to create computer programme with the help of which the appropriate analyses and assessment will be carried out and which will reduce the human factor”, - said the minister. The second programme is the rating of the Armenian higher education institutions. “After studying the best world practice we plan to implement our own assessment system of the Armenian higher education institutions taking as a basis the international methodology. This will allow to understand the role of this institution or another in the sphere of the higher education and at the same time it would provide useful information to the society”, - mentioned A. Ashotyan, adding that both programmes would be carried out at the expense of non-budget funds.

The minister Armen Ashotyan expressed the willingness to discuss all the possibilities of the cooperation with the public organizations and analytical centres which would promote the activity of the Ministry.