KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

The two-day international conference entitled “The Importance of Language, Education, and Family in the Process of Repatriation” wrapped up its work at Armenian State

 Pedagogical University on September 5. 

 

On the second day of the conference, the participants summarized the results of the previous working day and continued presenting new reports. 

 

The project coordinator of AWO Heimtgarten Charity Foundation, Olga Cherkez, stressed in her opening remarks that the success of any project is determined by the partners  chosen for its implementation. 

 

“Seeing the work of teachers who work with repatriated children we can state that Armenia is a reliable partner,” she said adding that teachers in Armenia are not afraid of difficulties; as a result they observed noticeable progress in repatriated children who are ready to overcome all difficulties arising from psychological and age-specific factors.

 

 Olga Cherkez also highlighted the importance of the project from a cognitive point of view, which, as she said, contributes to educational and social integration of repatriates: appearing in an environment where they can communicate freely they feel a national soil under their feet.

 

Armine Avagyan, Dean of the Faculty of Special Education, ASPU, dwelt in her report on the importance of Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) as an essential means for developing the coherent speech of children in immigrant families,

 

She has been applying the method in her practice in recent years and can say that it helps enrich the vocabulary of children and shapes a culture for free communication. “A well-developed speech is one of the pledges for children’s socialization, a guarantee for their activities and good education,” she said. 

 

Mr. Yenok Shatvorian, Chairman of the Hope and help NGO, spoke in his report about the activities of the organization in 1998-2013 which is aimed at maintaining and improving sexual, reproductive and mental health of Armenia’s population by raising public awareness and teaching vital skills. 

 

Further on, Bella Ayunts and Shushanik Petrosyan, teachers of the AWO Heimatgarten Adaptation Center, spoke about the teaching methods used for teaching Russian and German to repatriated children, the new problems and challenges encountered during the teaching of foreign languages and in the teaching process in general. 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the conference Volker Tegeler, Managing Director of the AWO Bremerhaven and Project Coordinator of

 Heimatgarten, thanked the ASPU for organizing and hosting the conference, as well as for close cooperation and active participation. He also expressed the hope that further cooperation will reduce the problems of repatriates and promote their social reintegration.

 

 

 The closing of the conference was marked by the adoption of a draft declaration between the ASPU and AWO. The document was also based on the proposals made by the conference participants, who suggested conducting workshops for children’s parents, providing psychological and legal assistance to adult repatriates, etc.

 

The two-day international conference concluded with an event held at the hall of the Faculty of Culture.