KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

An active winter break was organized for about 80 students at the Training Base of the Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) in Aghavnadzor. There were 7 students from each Faculty who have stood out with their academic excellence and activism, or participated in the war for homeland defense. The students’ break consists of activities, educational and cognitive meetings, educational programs, while the intellectual and athletic games complement each other and make the active leisure more interesting.

President of the Student Council Paruyr Galstyan noted that the Council organizes the students’ daily activities and that they meet with various specialists who share their professional skills and answer the students’ questions of interest. The intellectual and athletic games complement each other, making the active leisure more interesting. The representatives of the ASPU have had meetings with Director of the School of Ethics Gevorg Mkrtchyan, world weightlifting champion Nazik Avdalyan, representatives from Teach For Armenia and President of the ASPU Trade Union Edik Gulyan.

Paruyr Galstyan states that the break is also cognitive and helps discover talented students, and the students make new friends during interactions. Besides, the President of the Student Council meets with them on a regular basis in order to listen to their suggestions to make the winter break better. Within the scope of the meetings, ASPU Vice-Rector for HR Management and International Cooperation Marianna Harutyunyan also visited the students.

During the active dialogue, the students raised issues related to the educational process, the current challenges in the education sector, the implementation of international programs at the University, the Academic City, the latest technologies and the radicalization of the concept of patriotism in the context of education. “We are doing everything we can to make sure you get to know yourself and each other better,” the Vice-Rector remarked and talked about a number of issues concerning the students, including the lack of proficiency of English, which is the reason for lack of participation of students and professors in international programs.

Marianna Harutyunyan stated that the Armenian State Pedagogical University has wonderful experience in organizing the Summer School Program and assured that the first challenging in education are the skills of the 21st century which everyone needs to have posses, adding that it is necessary to change the educational system and enhance the value system of teachers — something that this generation will do. She also touched upon the implementation of inter-faculty projects, the potential risks of the Academic City, the updating of subject-specific university programs within the scope of the existing laws, the organizing of internships with respect to certain professions and other issues. “Today, teachers are the most important individuals. They are the ones who educate generations which will go on to set examples of patriotism through the work that they do on a daily basis,” Marianna Harutyunyan remarked and urged the students to start changing their mindset by taking a look at themselves and break the stereotypes based on their personal examples. During the meeting, Head of the Department for Educational Processes Management and Reforms Samvel Asatryan also answered a number of questions related to the organizing of educational processes.