REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA Education Reforms Quality and Relevance By Karine Harutyunyan Deputy Minister of Education, Republic of Armenia Yerevan, 21 October, 2011

Brief Historical Perspective Armenia is an ancient country with a long cultural and educational traditions. Education in Armenia, based on more than 1600 years of literary heritage, has long been regarded as the main factor in maintaining national identity especially during the last 6 centuries without independent statehood. Armenia has adopted Christianity as a state religion in 301. Armenian alphabet was invented in 405. In the same year the first school was created in Armenia. In the 7th century Anania Shirakatsi created first secondary school. The first textbook referring sciences, in particular to mathematics, was written in the 7th century. At present 15000 pieces of ancient Armenian manuscripts are kept in a special museum in Yerevan called Matenadaran.

Until 1920 Schools were under the official support of the Armenian Christian Church, however they were secular (not religious). 1920-1991 In 1920 Soviet power was established in Armenia and the existing network of Christian schools was completely reformed according to the new socialistic values. A large net of educational institutions was created and developed during Soviet period. The Soviet system of education was completely centralized and managed from Moscow, but the Armenian language was basically preserved. in 1991 At the time of break-up of the Soviet Union, Armenia enjoyed high standards of education and the prestige of having developed a sophisticated scientific community.

During 70 Years Soviet Armenia Achieved 10 years of compulsory basic education with complete enrollment free education on all levels from pre-primary to higher universal access negligible drop out and repetition rates very high completion rate gender equity co-educational and monograde classes bilingual and literate adult population with 25% university graduates highly qualified, well paid teacher force provision of strong and academic knowledge appreciation of knowledge by population

What Was Not Good in Soviet Education Extreme centralization Ideological bias Armenian history and culture almost missing Too academic curricula Non interactive teaching methodology “Directive” or “frontal” teaching Rigid curricula Limited parents’ and society participation State initiative Absence of shared decision-making Students’ equalization Absence of democracy

Number of Institutions Before 1991 in 2011 1316 schools ---------------------------- 1457 schools (increase 10.5%) 82 VET institutions ---------------------- 101 institutions (increase 22%) 15 HEIs ----------------------------------- 66 HEIs (increase 4.4 times)

Bachelor of medicine (5 years) Doctor of Sciences PhD(3 years) Candidate of Sciences Researcher ( 3 years) Master ( 2 years) Bachelor of medicine (5 years) Bachelor(4 years) Colleges (3 years) Ages 15 to 17 Initial Vocational schools (6 months to 1 years) Ages 15 to 16 High school (3 years) Ages 15 to 17 Secondary education (5 years) Ages 10 to 14 Primary education (4 years) Ages 6 to 9 Pre – school (3 years) Ages 3 to 5

Education Sector Statistical Summary Based on official demographics which understate recent high levels of temporary or permanent migration. Actual enrollment rations are thought to be considerably higher, e.g.90% for grades 1-9. Variability throughout the country in class sizes and staffing ratios is extremely big.

Statistics Number of schools- 1457 Number of pupils – 392900 Number of middle professional/vocational schools -101 Number of students in middle professional/vocational schools -29900 Number of higher educational institutions -66, out of which 22 are state Number of students in higher educational institutions - 114600

Reforms oriented to increase of the quality and relevance Decentralization of the schools system and increase of schools autonomy, creation of school boards School financing reform- transfer to a lump sum financing based on the per capita financing formula, school optimization Increase the quality of teaching and learning in schools by creating a coherent National Curriculum Framework (NCF), and setting education standards (learning outcomes) that encourage independent thinking skills and other key competencies in pupils of all abilities; Establish a professional, credible national system for school graduation and HEI entrance examinations, which are trusted by the society and insure smooth transition from secondary to the higher education; Introduce new processes and techniques of learner formative assessment and apply results for evidence-based policy making in education using the following types of assessment; Develop skills and culture of national assessments and participate in international surveys;

Reforms oriented to increase of the quality and relevance Improve pupil learning outcomes through the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT); Increase effectiveness and efficiency of teachers and schools to enhance the delivery of curriculum through the use of ICT; Train teachers to upgrade their professional qualifications and equip them with new skills and tools, such as use of ICT in teaching process, new assessments instruments, and interactive teaching methods; Build capacity for successful implementation of the reforms via training of education officials, school directors, and board members; as well as through public information and dissemination activities; Facilitate management and decision-making process on the central, Marz and school levels through the use of the EMIS (Education Management Information System); Support further decentralizing the country’s education system through autonomous school-based management, new accountability systems, and by promoting community participation in school funding and management through elected school boards and improving the per-capita financing mechanisms.

Issues Education system on both secondary and tertiary level is still quite inefficient Financing of the education system is low and continues to decrease Curriculum at both secondary and tertiary level have to be further developed to be more oriented to learning outcomes and develop key competencies and skills in students Quality and relevance of the education are an emerging problem Link with the labor market is week