YEREVAN. – A three-day Curriculum Revision Workshop for education experts, schoolteachers and leaders, university professors, and broader education community got underway in Armenia.
The workshop is organized within the framework of the EU funded “EU4INNOVATION: STEM Pilot Activities” project by EU, the World Bank and Armenia's Ministry of Education.
The workshop aims at articulating Armenia’s secondary education program philosophy, objectives and general competences for the new curriculum. It also intends to define the State Standard for Education Program, including student learning outcomes, subject areas, distribution of hours and assessment for the new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum.
In his opening remarks, Education Minister Arayik Harutyunyan said the goal of the workshop is not to make complete changes, but to understand what they need to review. He noted importance of having discussion with the education professionals.
“I hope we will complete the process this year and will have the results. Once we have the results we will develop programs and will work on new textbooks,” he said.
Gonzalo Serrano de la Rosa, Head of Cooperation of the EU delegation to Armenia, noted that by September they are expected to have from the government a strategic framework in terms of education reforms. He added that during his recent visit to Brussels Armenian PM raised education as one of top priorities of the government, and he is expecting enhanced support from the delegation.
“We are committed to monitor the process and to mobilize technical and financial resources,” Gonzalo Serrano de la Rosa said.
Sylvie K. Bossoutrot, World Bank’s Country Manager for Armenia, in turn, said the World Bank is truly committed to Armenia’s key top priority of enhancing the quality of education.
“This workshop is an important step forward in the investment in STEM curriculum,” she added.
The EU4INNOVATION project, launched in early 2019 and administered by the World Bank, is designed to improve the quality of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in Armenia. The project will support the Ministry of Education and Science in redeveloping the curricula for grades 1-12, associated pedagogical materials, textbooks, teachers’ guides, and selected exams or examinations blueprints for STEM subjects in grades 5-12, using contemporary methods and technologies.
