WAC AND UAR-ORGANIZED INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION AIMS TO PROMOTE
PARTICIPANTS’ KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PAST OF ARMENIAN PEOPLE

YEREVAN, MAY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. It is the 4th year that the World Armenian
Congress (WAC) and the Union of Armenians in Russia (UAR) are holding
"We Were, We Are, We Will Be" writing competition for pupils of the
senior school and students. The theme of this year’s competition is "We
are Strong When We are Together". Pupils and students from Armenia,
Artsakh and the Diaspora can participate in it. The deadline for bids
is late May, while the results will be summarized in June. The
award-giving ceremony will take place in October, during Days of the
WAC and the UAR in Armenia. 6 award winners will receive computers.

The head of the WAC Armenian branch, vice president of the UAR Vladimir
Aghayan said at the May 8 press conference that the main purpose of
this annual competition of the best literary work is promote knowledge
of pupils and students of Armenia, Artskah and Diaspora about the
historical past of the Armenian people and to instill faith in the
future into them. Besides, the competition contributes to the further
development of Armenia-Diaspora relations and the formation of national
unity, promotes the preservation of the national identity and the
dissemination of the Armenian culture, language and literature.

According to V. Aghayan, the implementation of another initiative will
continue this year. It is the initiative "pedagogical readings as a
methodological help to Diasporan Armenian teachers" which was launched
last year. The best works of pedagogical readings were published in a
separate collection in late 2007 and distributed to Diasporan
educational institutions. V. Aghayan said that the number of Armenian
Sunday schools is growing in the Diaspora year by year. Prior to the
foundation of the UAR, there were 30 Sunday Armenian schools in Russia,
whereas last academic year their number made 350.