CHRISTOFIAS STRESSES COMMITMENT TO ARMENIAN SCHOOLS
By Anna Hassapi

Cyprus Mail
7 Nov 08

LIMASSOL’S Narek Armenian Primary School, has been completely renovated
and revamped with state funds.

President Demetris Christofias and House President Marios Garoyian were
among guests at the new school’s inauguration ceremony on Wednesday
night, and expressed the state’s support to the Armenian community.

"The Armenians of Cyprus have developed the basis to preserve
their ethnic identity. The Armenian Church and the three Narek
schools in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca have played and continue
to play a defining role in the preservation of their traditions,"
said Christofias.

"The Armenians are an integral part of the Cypriot people and their
cultural traits enrich the multicultural character of our land. We
respect their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity
and support the development of conditions that will allow them both
as individuals and as a group to express, preserve and develop their
identity," he added.

The Armenian school has been operating in Limassol since the 1930s. The
present structure at Vasilis Michaelides street in the centre of
Limassol stands on the site of the initial one-room school built
in 1951.

There are three Narek kindergarten and primary schools, in Nicosia,
Limassol and Larnaca, as well as a secondary school in Nicosia. The
Limassol school has 23 students, Larnaca’s Narek has 20 students, while
120 students attend Nicosia’s Narek primary school. An additional 15
students attend the Narek high-school in Nicosia.

Narek primary schools offer a trilingual education to their students,
who are taught Greek and English, in addition to Armenian. The
seven-year programme is based on the public school curriculum, with
emphasis on Armenian language and history. All primary school teachers
are Armenian, while the entire school budget is covered by the state.

"The level of Greek is the same as in public schools. In addition
to Greek language, students are taught the history and geography
of Cyprus.

English is also taught from the first year. All other classes are in
Armenian for the first four years of primary school and then English is
the language of teaching in the three final years of primary school to
prepare students to attend private high schools, as most of them do,"
said Arto Aivazian, Narek School Principal.

The Narek high-school in Nicosia is considered part of the public
school system, as the curriculum is exactly the same and teachers
are appointed by the Ministry of Education. Students, however, stay
an extra six hours per week in class to be taught Armenian language
and history.