MEETINGS ARE BASIS FOR FUTURE COOPERATION
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Nov 16 2006
The NKR minister of education, culture and sport Kamo Atayan and the
rector of Artsakh State University Hamlet Grogorian visited France
and Moscow from October 24 to November 4. They were invited to France
to take part in the conference devoted to the 15th anniversary of the
Independence of NKR. Before the conference the NKR delegation visited
the city of Meudon where they met with the mayor. The minister of
education said they discussed questions of mutual interest with the
mayor. The city has a college which trains specialists for services.
The mayor of Meudon advised to visit the college and discuss
possibilities of cooperation. Kamo Atayan said the college combines
theory and practice, and on graduation the alumni are ready to work.
The minister said they will use this practice in the new vocational
college in Stepanakert. And the first step will be starting to teach
French at the college to communicate with the invited specialists.
For the equipment, this is the most complicated problem because it
requires immense costs. Kamo Atayan raised this issue in a meeting
with a group of Armenian businessmen in France, organized by Hovik
Gevorgian, the NKR representative to France. Kamo Atayan says they
were interested in everything, from premises to the teaching staff
and placement of students. They proposed supporting the construction
of the new compound for the vocational college. The project of the
compound will be sent to France as soon as it is ready. In Paris,
the NKR delegation visited the Armenian Lyceum, met with the teachers
and students. The number of students tends to grow. The fact that
children come to this school from as far as 350 km shows that the
Armenian families want their children to get Armenian education.
After staying in Paris for two days the delegation left for the
city of Lille to participate in the conference devoted to the 15th
anniversary of the Independence of NKR held at University Charles
de Gaulle. The participants represented different universities and
nationalities. There were also Turkish professors. Hamlet Grigorian,
the rector of Artsakh State University made a report entitled
"Reflections and Forecast on the Settlement of the NKR Issue"
and Kamo Atayan reported on the achievements and problems of the
NKR system of education. The fate of the unrecognized countries of
the South Caucasus and in the world sparked a debate. The members
of our delegation say the debate came to the conclusion that the
self-determination of nations is superior to territorial integrity.
In Moscow, the NKR delegation met with the staff of Lomonosov
University and discussed possibilities of cooperation. They had a
productive meeting with the directors of the institutes of the Russian
Academy of Education. At the Public Chamber of Russia Kamo Atayan and
Hamlet Grigorian were awarded the medal of peace and humanism in the
Caucasus. They also met with the leadership of the Union of Armenians
of Russia. Two months ago the leadership of the Union had visited NKR
and made an arrangement on supporting Artsakh State University with
equipment, construction of a gym and financial aid to students. The
Union of Armenians of Russia transferred some money to ASU for grants
to talented students who cannot afford to pay for their education,
thereby implementing part of their project. The minister of education
says the meetings in Moscow and France provided certain basis for
further cooperation, and there are great expectations.