YEREVAN - RA Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan and the AGBU Armenian Virtual College Founding President Dr. Yervant Zoryan signed a Partnership Agreement, marking the launch of a joint initiative that will provide Armenian language education for refugees and asylum seekers in Armenia. The signing ceremony took place today at the AGBU Armenia hall.

The Partnership Agreement is based on the RA Government decision N8 of February 23, 2017. Within the scope of the Agreement, free Armenian language courses will be provided to individuals recognized as refugees in the Republic of Armenia, asylum-seekers and long-term migrants, including Syrian-Armenians, to promote their social integration. Annually, about 80 people will benefit from these courses. 

"Education, culture, humanitarian and social-economic programs have always been the priority of AGBU’s mission. This initiative combines the educational and humanitarian components to help our Syrian-Armenian brothers and sisters integrate into their ancestral homeland more quickly and easily”, AGBU Armenia President, AGBU Central Board Member Vasken Yacoubian said in his opening address.

The classes will begin in March 2018 and will be facilitated by AVC language instructors. The Hybrid teaching approach will be applied, which combines the advantages of both classroom and distance learning methods. 

"The work done by the Armenian Virtual College is educational for us. Later, we can easily apply their technical solutions, procedures and forms in our e-learning programs”, Minister Levon Mkrtchyan said. 

"This is the first class that AVC will establish in Armenia for refugees, building upon our experience and capacities for online education. We are proud to partner with the Ministry on this issue", said Dr. Yervant Zoryan. 

The 60-hour educational courses will be offered to students with different levels of Armenian language proficiency, along with additional 120-hour courses designed for each level. The courses will be developed by AVC and approved by the Ministry of Education and Science. The Ministry will also provide information to potential beneficiaries about the available educational opportunities.

The beneficiaries of this partnership project will join a worldwide community of students, who learn Armenian through AVC Hybrid education. In 2017, a total of 20 Armenian schools in different countries participated in the hybrid education courses. During the event, Noobar Yaghobian, Head of the Armenian Society of New Zealand, Megerditch Basma, Armenian Language teacher in AGBU Paris Saturday school and Sonia Avakian-Bedrossian, Chairperson of the AGBU Sofia Chapter, joined in and greeted the participants via the virtual Global Forum.

AGBU Armenian Virtual College (AVC): 

AGBU Armenian Virtual College (AVC) is an accredited online learning institution that facilitates Armenian Studies through new technologies. Launched in 2009, AVC classes are open to anyone interested in Armenian Studies, creating a virtual classroom for students who do not have access to traditional, face-to-face Armenian educational programs, while supplementing the curriculum of those who do. AVC’s mission is to build a virtual learning community that fosters cultural education and social ties across the globe. 

For more information about AVC and its programs, please visit www.avc-agbu.org
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Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU): 

Established in 1906, AGBU is the world's largest non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the lives of some 500,000 Armenians around the world.

For more information about AGBU Armenia and its programs, please visit www.agbu.am   
For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please visit www.agbu.org    
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