“Dear pupils, students,
Dear educators and parents,
Congratulations to all of us on the occasion of Knowledge Day.
In the Transformation Strategy of Armenia 2050, we have declared making education a national way of life a strategic goal, justifying it by that education is the only tool by which a person recognizes problems, finds their solutions.
This statement is true for both an individual and the society, the state, comprised of numerous people. And consequently, our current agenda in the field of knowledge, cognition, skill, education, science, and the quality of the implementation of that agenda predetermines our ability to recognize our problems and to solve them. This also predetermines our place, role, weight in the world.
I also highlight the role of secondary vocational education, which forms a complete system for the developments of the state and economy together with primary education, general education, higher and postgraduate education.
Today in Armenia we have a serious problem of unemployment and poverty, on the other hand there is a lack of specialists. There is a great demand in our labor market for qualified engineers, farmers, financiers, but also for cooks, welders, lathe operators, which cannot be met due to the lack of specialists.
Such phenomena, which are an obstacle to human welfare and economic development, indicate the problems in the education system.
This is the reason why the reforms in the field of education are on the Government's priority list.
We have already adopted the state standards of pre-school and general education, have launched mechanisms for encouraging high-quality pedagogical staff and for continuous raising of qualification of pedagogical staff, which should be combined with salary increases. We have initiated significant changes in the field of secondary vocational and higher education, reformed the system of science funding.
Also, during the next 5 years we plan to build or renovate about 500 kindergartens, 300 schools, to create modern natural science and engineering laboratories in all 1400 schools of the republic. The purpose of all this is the following: quality education should start from kindergarten, it should be accessible to all children of all regions, all settlements, who should have a viable opportunity to continue their education in secondary vocational and / or higher education institutions. From the viewpoint of continuing education, I consider the process of professional training, continuous improvement of qualifications to be very important, because, according to the government, education is a process that continues throughout life. In this context, I have to emphasize the importance of re-training systems that meet the requirements of the labor market.
Dear pupils and students,
Conditioned by the pandemic, anti-epidemic rules must be strictly observed this academic year, preventing schools and universities from becoming a source of infection, which will allow the educational process to be carried out in a normal way.
Welcoming all of you once again on this important day, I wish us the will and ability to recognize our problems and to solve them.
Happy September 1.”
