KAREKIN II CATHOLICOS: "OUR PEOPLE IS OBLIGED WITH ITS EXISTENCE TO ARMENIAN TEACHER"

Noyan Tapan
Oct 24 2006

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. Secondary school teachers’
awarding took place on October 23 in the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin. According to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan
by the Information Services of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,
this is the third competition of secondary school teachers being
held in Armenia by the RA Ministry of Education and Science, under
the patronage of Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians. According to the tradition, His Holiness himself gives
certificates and monetary prizes to the competition winners. Narine
Hovhannisian, the Comprehensive Department Chief of the RA Ministry of
Education and Science presented the "Best Teacher of Year" competition
program and done works. Then, the Catholicos of All Armenians and
Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchian gave certificates and
encouraging prizes to 44 teachers of the "History of Armenian People,"
"History of Armenian Church," "Armenian Language and Literature"
and natural sciences subjects. Irma and Silva Ter-Stepanians sisters
(U.S.), the sponsors of the "Best Teacher" competition were present at
the event. The methodological handbook to the "History of Armenian
Church" text-books was also published owing to the their honest
charity. Attaching importance to the close cooperation between the
Armenian Apostolic Surb Church and the RA Ministry of Education and
Science, L.Mkrtchian expressed deep gratitude to His Holiness for
the attention shown by him towards the educational sphere.

Addressing at the end of the ceremony his speech and commandment
to those present, Karekin II Catholicos said: "Being a teacher is
a great honour and responsibility: it means to bear responsibility
for the nation’s existence, quality of its existence. Our people is
obliged with its existence to the Armenian teacher. And thank God,
the history and culture of which our nation is proud, was created
owing to the Armenian people’s soul and idea, is a result of his
education and bringing up." His Holiness expressed confidence
that the Armenian teacher must be able to create honest citizens,
an Armenian’s soul, must be able to nourish Armenian children from
the cleanest source of the Armenian people’s duration and identity,
characteristic and essence, from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
from where an Armenian’s soul and belief have got food for centuries.