KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

From March 18 to 27, students of the Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) were in the Netherlands to get acquainted with European values through the Erasmus+ Programme.

Among the participants of the “Armenia: Road to European Values” youth program were 13 representatives of Armenian universities, and among the three students of the ASPU were 4th year Bachelor’s student of the Department of TV Journalism Lilit Atchemyan, as well as 2nd year Master’s students of the same Department Simon Hovhannisyan and Milena Artenyan.

The aim of the youth project was to help the youth exchange experience and become familiar with new cultures. During the ten-day visit, the students had the opportunity to visit a number of cities of the Netherlands, become familiar with the local culture, as well as people’s lifestyles and culture. They also visited Leiden student city and were introduced to the local students.

The participants were also in The Hague where they visited the International Criminal Court in The Hague and attended the trial versus the former government of the Central African Republic. They also visited the Parliament of the Netherlands where they were shown the press coverage room of the sessions hall and the museum.

Through the program, there were several discussions with speakers from various countries, as well as talks in different formats with people who are not participating in the program, and the talks were about what European values mean to the locals and what the secret to their development is. During a conversation with the students, an elderly Dutch couple emphasized that even though democracy, legal equality and other values (common values in Europe) are at a higher level in Europe than in Armenia, there are values that the Dutch can learn from the Armenians, and they set aside the family-centered mindset as a feature of the Armenians’ thinking.

The students were also introduced to the local Armenian students, visited the Abovyan Armenian Cultural Center in The Hague and had meetings with representatives of the local Armenian community and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to the Netherlands. During the discussion, they touched upon the Armenia-European Union cooperation.

The students assure that they have returned to their homeland with new knowledge, new notions of European values, democracy and freedom of speech and thought and new examples of showing a heartfelt attitude towards the State and the environment. The students also avowed that they will do everything they can to invest their gained knowledge and experience in Armenia.

Information provided by Simon Hovhannisyan