KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

The Scientific Council of Armenian State Pedagogical University convened an extraordinary meeting on Friday.

Head of the Department for Education Management and Reforms Samvel Asatryan spoke about the accreditation process of the university. He presented the self-analysis of the university's institutional capacities and said that according to the schedule meetings had been organized with working groups to discuss the preliminary version of the self-analysis.

He added that after hearing observations instructions had been given to ensure the reliability of bases for criteria, their availability and the work related to them at a proper level.

ASPU Rector Srbuhi Gevorgyan, who is also Chair of the Scientific Council, said all structures involved in the accreditation process should be aware of the content of the document. She expects all involved parties to have an active discussion.

The rector stressed that for the first time 96 professional education courses offered by the university have been thoroughly reviewed, matching them with the final results of subject descriptions. The work continues and the number of revised courses subjects is expected to increase by the yearend.

The Scientific Council approved the self-analysis of the University's institutional accreditation.

Naira Safaryan, ASPU Vice-Rector for Education, reported on the next issue on the agenda suggesting her colleagues to discuss and approve specialties for the 2024-2025 academic year.

The vice-rector also resented the proposals made by the councils of the faculties regarding the list of specialties. In the 2024-2025 academic year, the university will not have admissions for some specialties, but there will be new educational courses. The decision was made considering the results of admissions, the updated list of specialties, the demand of the labour market, and the shortage of applicants in certain professions.

Once again Srbuhi Gevorgyan emphasized the importance of forming an adequate attitude in society towards teaching and the necessity of a policy to raise the image of teachers.

The head of the university added that preparing STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) specialists is a matter of honour for the Pedagogical University. "Every day, we are working to make teaching an attractive and promising profession so that it can have its place in the field of public education."