Providing the young Armenian generation with a solid education and equipping them with a strong Armenian education has always been one of the major goals of Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Association.
The process of providing the new generation with a solid and effective Armenian education is conditioned by the existence of specialized and capable educators and teachers. In recent years, within the spheres of lecturing Armenian language and literature, history and culture, the number of teachers with the abovementioned qualities has gradually decreased in several Armenian schools throughout the diaspora. If the number of teachers of Armenian lessons continues to decrease at the current pace, then in the near future the task of Armenian education of our new generation will be subject to a major crisis. In its efforts to find a solution to this problem, and as a practical step forward, the following initiatives have been undertaken:
1. It has been proposed to the RA Ministry of Education to establish a condensed curriculum of Armenian studies at the Yerevan State University. The duration of the proposed curriculum will be two years. After completing the curriculum, students will receive a master’s degree. The curriculum will include lectures on Western Armenian, Armenian history, Armenian literature, and Armenian culture. The students attending the curriculum will largely be diasporans trained to teach Armenian classes in diaspora schools. The curriculum will aim at providing such students with specialization in Armenian lessons. Presently, we are designing the implementation of this proposal.
2. A project of training teachers of Armenian Studies has been established. The project has the following two stages:
A. A young graduate of an Armenian school from within the diaspora will be provided with the opportunity to study education at a university. At the end of the course, the student will receive a BA degree or a License in Education. This first stage will be completed at the student’s country of residence. After this stage, or later on, the student will follow a Diplome d’Ensignement curriculum.
B. In the second stage the student will complete the abovementioned curriculum of specialization of Armenian Studies at the Yerevan State University and receive a master’s Degree. The project of training teachers of Armenian studies has already been launched. One student is already pursuing Licence d’Education.
3. The Central Committee of Hamazkayin is willing to cover the complete costs of education for the first few students and their stay in Armenia. To fund the expenses of an increased number of students, the Central Committee of Hamazkayin is willing to cooperate with other educational or charity organizations or institutions. It is also planned to establish education funds that will support this purpose and solicit the aid of generous and compassionate Armenians.
4. These students will be asked to sign a written agreement of taking the moral responsibility to teach Armenian Studies at an Armenian school for at least seven years after their graduation. This project has been launched. Also, we would like to extend a call for cooperation to education or humanitarian organizations and institutions that are interested in this project. And we would like to call the Armenian schools in the diaspora to cooperate with us on this project.
Finally, we would like to invite students who have graduated from Armenian schools and are interested in this project to contact the office of Central Committee of Hamazkayin (central@hamazkayin.com , 00961-4-715684.)
Central Executive Board of Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society
April 18, 2012