"Translation of Armenian Sign Language": a new profession at Yerevan State Humanitarian College
15-07-2026 17:30 Armenia Press release
Yerevan State Humanitarian College is introducing the specialty of "Translation of Armenian Sign Language" with the qualification of "Armenian Sign Language Translator" on an experimental basis starting this academic year.
The duration of the vocational education program, based on secondary education, is 2 years. This year, for the first time, Yerevan State Humanitarian College will conduct admissions for this specialty; 25 places have been allocated, 13 free and 12 paid.
"It is very important to have a sign language translator for the social opportunities of deaf people. They play a significant role in supporting various situations, starting from the simplest everyday scenarios," said Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Araksia Svajyan, presenting the new specialty.
According to her, a working group was formed from representatives of various professional organizations, which studied international experience and worked for about a year on the content and standards of the educational program:
Araksia Svajyan noted that there is quite a high demand for sign language interpreters in Armenia; there is a legislative requirement to provide sign language interpretation in the field of television and in some specialized organizations. In addition, within the framework of universal inclusion, there is a long-term goal: children with hearing impairments should attend not special schools, but learn in their community school. This means that the necessary specialists should be present in schools as needed.
When talking about the educators, the deputy minister mentioned that all the necessary competencies that the specialist should have were taken into account during the program's development. Since there has never been an educational process for training such specialists in Armenia, there is currently no established base of qualified specialists. Teaching will be conducted by professionals with many years of experience in the field.
The admission for this specialty will consider the scores of the final certificates in "Sociology," "Biology," and "Armenian Language" as competitive.
* This text was automatically translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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