Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended an event at the Alexander Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian State Pedagogical University named after Khachatur Abovyan.

Also attending the event were Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan, Deputy Minister Zhanna Andreasyan, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, Rector of the university Srbuhi Gevorgyan, MPs, ambassadors accredited to the Republic of Armenia. The press service of the Armenian Prime Minister informed about it.

In his speech, Prime Minister Pashinyan congratulated everyone on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Pedagogical University and stressed that this is a very important anniversary.

"This jubilee is also an important milestone for us, when we should state without any exaggeration that the profession of pedagogy, and hence pedagogical education has strategic importance for us, because pedagogical education, after all, excuse for tautology, is education about methods, forms and already today technologies of education.

Let's go back to the time when the University was founded. It was a time when in Armenia, as in many countries, institutions were created for "liberal education". This was done to make people literate, because illiteracy was, unfortunately, a ubiquitous phenomenon in many countries at that time and in Armenia as well.

However, at the event on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan we regret to state that we face the same or similar problems when studies show that in Armenia, for example, a very large percentage of children under 10 have functional illiteracy. This is an issue of national security. No exaggeration.

And today we are faced with the inevitability of steps to solve this problem. That is why extensive and profound reforms have been undertaken in general education. The most important point of these reforms is to emphasize the cornerstone and strategic importance of education, general education, and preschool education. However, it is also important to emphasize that without a professional teacher, without a professional teaching staff, this task cannot be accomplished. And so the further development of teacher education is of cornerstone importance to us.

Today I am pleased to say on this anniversary that we live at a time when teacher salaries are doubling and tripling. And I am pleased to note that this process will be an ongoing one. And as I have already had occasion to say, yes, today we are creating an opportunity for teachers to receive a salary of 400,000 drams, but this is only the beginning. In the Republic of Armenia a teacher should receive a salary of 800,000, 1,000,000, 1,200,000 drams. The same applies to the teachers of teacher education, because their responsibility is greater, the result of their work is more important for the successful formulation and resolution of the process I have mentioned.

But we are doing this process not only for current teachers, but also for school graduates, so that they know that at the highest level of the state, the teaching profession is given great importance and is considered strategic, and these days there is a concrete, practical implementation of this text, this statement.

Distinguished teachers, heads, students, graduates of the Armenian Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan!

Let me once again congratulate all of us on this important jubilee and note that the 100th anniversary is a good occasion to take stock of our activities, but it is also the best occasion to plan for the future. And the future that we will plan and implement in the field of teacher education, here, this future in the quality of its planning and implementation will become a reality after some time.

I am confident that today we will be able to project and tomorrow realize a future of a free, happy and secure Armenia, and that future will be built in the area of pedagogy, in the Pedagogical Education, in the Pedagogical Education Institute. I also hope that all of you will support the reforms that the Government is going to implement.

I thank all of you for the work done and I wish you success in the works to be done," he said.

Prime Minister Pashinyan awarded a group of university professors with state awards and medals.