RA MINISTER OF DIASPORA MEETS DIASPORAN ARMENIAN TEACHERS RETRAINED IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Aug 3, 2009

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA Minister of
Diaspora received on July 31 79 Diasporan Armenian teachers retrained
in Armenia.

This retrainment is one of the annual official continuous programs
held in Armenia which is organized by the RA Ministry of Education
and Science with means of the state budget.

The RA Ministry of Diaspora, cooperating with the RA Ministry of
Education and Science since 2008 October, with the help of Armenian
structures, has been working in the direction of spreading in
Diaspora information about giving educational literature to Diasporan
Armenian educational institutions, about the pan-Armenian Olympiad
of the Armenian Language and Literature, competition on Armenology,
retraining courses for Diasporan Armenian teachers.

The number of teachers willing to take part in the program decreased
during the recent years (according to the RA Ministry of Education
and Science, 67,27, 22 teachers took part in the program in 2006,
2007 and 2008, accordingly), and the RA Ministry of Diaspora does
some works with about 500 structures of Diaspora: with community and
other Armenian organizations, schools, state cultural-educational
institutions of organizing countries.

The information bundles of the RA Ministry of Education and Science
concerning all the mentioned programs, the address letters of the
Ministry were sent to the websites of national-cultural, Armenological
institutions and Armenian media.

Work was implemented in March-July, 2009, with separate schools,
teachers, officials of communities, especially towards studying
the demand of Diasporan schools for the program of the teachers’
retrainment and towards providing their participation in it.

As a result of these activities the geography of the participant
countries was enlarged in 2009, participation of Armenian teachers of
Armenian schools from 13 countries was registered (Turkey, Argentina,
Iran, Syria, Lebanon, etc).

As a result of the work done by the corresponding structural
departments of the RA Ministry of Diaspora with national seminaries of
Turkey, the authorities of the Armenian Cultural Union of Argentina,
8 teachers from Turkey and 2 from Argentina took part in the courses
held this year for the first time. The teachers brought with them 21
young people taking part in the Ministry’s Come Home program.

Assistance was shown in the issues of meeting and settling the teachers
visiting Armenia for the first time, some tours to historical places
and sightseeings of Armenia were organized for the Armenian teachers
of Turkey.

According to the Press and Public Relations Department of the RA
Ministry of Diaspora, at the beginning of the meeting Minister
H. Hakobian noted that the size of the budget allocations for the
teachers’retrainment grows year by year. It was 2.7b drams (.3 mln)
in 2009. Then she presented the directions of the changes towards
the Diaspora during the recent years: affirmation of the conception
of "Armenian Diaspora" in the RA Constitution, affirmation of the
institute of dual citizenship in the Legislation, creation of the
RA Ministry of Diaspora, fostering of the ideology of partnership in
the Diaspora-Armenia economical relations. H. Hakobian also presented
the functions and problems of the RA Ministry of Diaspora.

The Minister also noted though the Diaspora is laminated it should be
united in providing and strengthening the security the of Armenian
State, in final and peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
problem, in the issues of international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. "We are 10 million and should inspire our nation with
pride. The 21th century should be the century of the Armenian people",
Minister H. Hakobian stressed.

She attached importance to the role of an Armenian teacher especially
in the preservation of Armenian spirit noting that the greatest
benefactor in the Diaspora is the very teacher, it is teacher who
does the work of keeping an Armenian as an Armenian.

The Diasporan Armenian teachers who arrived in Armenia from Argentina,
Georgia, Russia, Iran, Egypt, Kuwait, Syria, Turkey, Switzerland
and were retrained here, introduced their questions and suggestions
to the RA Minister of Diaspora. In response to the suggestion on
the Armenian state’s assisting the Diasporan Armenian teachers,
the Minister noted that the RA government has already begun giving
some financial assistance for development of the Armenian school and
Armenology in Diaspora. Besides, the state allocates very extensive
resources for implementation of all-Armenian programs and events of
the spheres of education, youth, culture and others.

The same is the Come Home program the first two-week stage of which
ended on July 30. On this occasion words of gratitude were addressed
to the RA Minister of Diaspora. The Egyptian Armenian teacher Shake
Artinian said that all 6 Egyptian Armenian young people who were
hosted by Armenian families within the framework of the program
returned to their countries pleased. The Egyptian teacher noted many
Egyptian Armenian young people expressed willingness to visit their
Homeland within the framework of the Come Home program.