KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

The two-day Congress of Teachers and Education System Employees of CIS member states (“Education in the Changing World: The Impact of Global Realities on the Development of Education in Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States”) continued and drew to an end.

The second day of the conference was marked by discussions on the following topics: “Inclusive Education: Reforms Required for the Education Systems of CIS member states”, “Paths for Improvement of the Education Programs for Teachers of Foreign Languages”, “Characteristics of Organization of the Education Process in Modern Conditions: Developing Modular Education Programs”, “Competencies of the 21st Century in the Criteria for School Education: The “4K” Competencies of the 21st Century in the Context of the Preparation of Teachers and Teacher Education”, “Development of Secondary Vocational Education: New Opportunities for Cooperation within the scope of the CIS” and “Practice of CIS member states in the Functioning of Continuing Education”.

The discussions on educational standards and the speeches devoted to the new criteria stood out with theoretical analyses and a presentation of the hands-on experience. The participants emphasized that there was a comfort of educational culture during the discussions and that the practice of different countries will help provide an opportunity to conduct joint studies.

At the end of the Congress, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Artur Martirosyan and Rector of the Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) Srbuhi Gevorgyan granted certificates to the winners of the 3rd International Festival of Teaching Mastery in the “Teacher”, “Educator”, “Psychologist/Social Pedagogue” categories (the aim of the festival was to discover successful and talented participants in the pedagogy sector).

Summing up the Congress, Advisor to the Head of the Department of Education and Science, Humanitarian Cooperation, General Political and Social Issues of the CIS Executive Committee Galina Kazak noted that the participants highly appreciated the discussion on issues that are important for all CIS member states, the opportunity provided for exchange of experience and the fact that the recommendations for further development in the CIS are constructive and rational.

Galina Kazak also mentioned that a number of provisions were recommended, particularly the use of a complex approach by the education management bodies and educational institutions of CIS member states, that is, preparation of specialists capable of confronting the challenges for sustainable development, consolidation of technologies, as well as the cooperation of CIS member states in the development and experimentation of modern educational technologies and the digital scientific-methodical base.

The preparation of foreign language teachers was also recommended, including the updating of content of educational programs; the modernization of teaching methodologies; the improvement of the level of preparedness; further development of professional and joint educational projects of teachers; the introduction of international criteria; the orientation of intermediate vocational education for preparing specialists who are capable of confronting the modern challenges in the digital era; the expansion of platforms designed for discussions on the development of educational projects and the education system in the CIS member states, etc.

Besides the discussions at the Congress, there were also visits to cultural institutions. The participants visited the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenadaran), the History Museum of Armenia and TUMO Center for Creative Technologies where they were introduced to the practice of Armenia in design and technologies.