KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

The closing ceremony of the “Summer School 2017” took place at the educational base of Armenian State Pedagogical University in Aghavnazor.

This year, the Summer School project, implemented jointly by the ASPU Student Council and the Youth Foundation of Armenia for the fifth time, was attended by students from five countries - Lithuania, Hungary, Belarus, the Russian Federation and the Artsakh Republic.

During the ten-day programme, discussions, games, meetings and tours were organized to historical and cultural sites in Armenia, including Garni, Geghard, Etchmiadzin, Sevan, Tsaghkadzor and Dilijan. For ten days, the programme participants visited numerous sites, got acquainted with the history of Armenia, student life in the country, had a number of meetings and a series of discussions.

During the closing ceremony, the participants, who had already divided into six groups, performed songs, dances and shows, presenting the culture of their countries, their impressions of Armenia and daily routine. The visiting guests confessed that Armenia would remain in their memories as a country of friendship and hospitality, sun and proud mountains. Some of them promised to visit the country again.

Karen Avagyan, an Armenian lawmaker and coordinator of the Board of Trustees of the Youth Foundation of Armenia, welcomed the participants of the programme, assuring them that ‘the Foundation is always ready to implement international projects.’

“The Foundation highlights student and youth programmes but pays special attention to those international programmes that involve students from partner universities,” Karen Avagyan said adding that such programmes are described in pages, making the Foundation’s initiatives more interesting and effective.

ASPU Vice-Rector Ara Yeremyan quoted the great French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery, saying there is no greater splendour than human communication. He expressed hope that the international project enabled the participants to get familiarized with the culture of the participating countries and become ‘distributors.’ “You will become ambassadors of the project in your countries as in these ten days you got acquainted with Armenian history and culture and now you can distribute it in your homelands,” Mr. Yeremyan added.

“Armenia is the land of the sun. Such are your impressions of the last ten days which you are going to take with you [to your countries],” said Kristina Tsaturyan, Head of the ASPU International Cooperation Unit. She assured everyone that participation in the project enables participants to communicate with other cultures and language bearers, be more open and ready for cooperation and new forms of learning, and participate in new international projects.

Talking to old.aspu.am, the head of the International Cooperation Unit said an educational component was added to the programme which had a positive feedback. The foreign participants of the programme were greatly impressed because it gave them an opportunity to have a better idea of the Armenian educational system, Armenian history and culture. Kristina Tsaturyan considers another achievement of the year organization of group work and appointment of group coordinators which aimed to strengthen the principle of collaborative working.

Chairman of the ASPU Student Council Nersik Margaryan thanked the organizers and participants of the international project, saying the guests were leaving Armenia with unforgettable impressions. Nersik Margaryan reminded once again that last year the ASPU Summer School project was recognized the best by the Youth Foundation of Armenia and was awarded a “Haykyan” prize.

At the end of the meeting, the participants received certificates.

We would like to mention that 77 students were participated in the “Summer School- 2017” who arrived in Armenia from the Pázmány Péter Catholic University of Hungary, Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after Maxim Tank, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, Artsakh State University and Armenian State Pedagogical University.