Four colleges equipped with modern equipment and repaired with financial assistance of the EU will open in Armenia this month. It was announced at the October 3 joint press conference of RA Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotian and Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Ambassador Raul de Lutzenberger that by late 2011 the number of new colleges created on the basis of former secondary professional educational institutions will reach 12, including one college in each of ten marzes and two colleges in Yerevan. In the past 7-8 years the EU has actively assisted Armenia with educational reforms, targeting mainly professional education and training. “The professional education and training program in Armenia is a great achievement thanks to joint work of the EU Delegation to Armenia and the RA Ministry of Education and Science. We invested about 30 million Euro, including technical assistance. Our aim is to improve the quality of professional education in Armenia as it is an important component for development of marzes. The quality of professional education must meet the local requirements. It is also important to have qualified staff which will also ensure a high quality of education,” Raul de Lutzenberger said. “We have achieved serious results. We have already opened several centers of professional education in marzes”. Minister Armen Ashotian underlined that the program on reforms in the sphere of continuous professional education and training and the development of an employment strategy started in 2009. 15 million Euro has been invested in three years. Thanks to grants, 12 colleges have been reconstructed or are being reconstructed. They have been equipped with modern equipment, labs and lecture rooms with computers. “By late 2011, all the twelve colleges will be ready to open as new educational institutions in terms of their buildings, equipment and technology. Training programs of the teaching staff have been implemented as well, this year 20 new standards were developed for professions in demand in labor market,” the minister noted. In his words, structural reforms were implemented in the sphere on the advice of European partners. Starting from 2012, the number of students to get free education in preliminary and secondary educational institutions by government order will increase by 50%. These students will also receive scholarships. “We do everything so that Armenian young people will choose professions which will allow them to find jobs in the economy and justify their desire to be educated and their efforts,” Armen Ashotian said. “I want to express deep gratitude to Mr. de Lutzenberger for his consistency and attention to education. I want to express confidence that within the framework of Armenia’s new strategic cooperation with the EU, education and science will have their role and become a locomotive of our cooperation, ensuring good education and economic growth in Armenia and the creation of a common civilized area,” the minister stated. After the press conference, Noyan Tapan’s correspondent – with support of the EU Delegation to Armenia – visited two out of four colleges to reopen soon: the regional state colleges in Vayots Dzor and Ararat marzes - and learned more about their opportunities and problems. It should be noted that the results were impressive. The staff of both colleges was filled with enthusiasm. “We are pleased with assistance provided by the EU and UNDP programs. We do everything to help the marz and assist young people who want to acquire a profession,” said Elya Harutyunian, Deputy Director of Ararat regional state college. “I was glad to learn that we had been included in this program of the EU. We needed it very much because the meaning of our work does not seem to correspond to the place where this work is done,” said Director of Vayots Dzor regional state college Khachanush Sargsyan who has led this 40-year institution since 1980. “The college has an important role in our region: we prepare specialists, solve upbringing issues, and do serious work after school,” she assured us. Both colleges have problems relating to job placement of their graduates, but they also make efforts to solve these problems. “We try to overcome the problems, understanding that we have had many achievements in recent years,” Elya Harutyunian said.

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