Dilijan International School, which will carry out IGCSE programs for middle and high school children, as well as International Baccalaureate programs, aroused strong sentiment in Armenia.
In September 2014, the school intends to admit its first students from different countries.
As early as 2 years ago, We Are Against Reopening Foreign Schools initiative group started to protest and concrete proposals were made to the Public Council. The initiative thinks that education in the International Baccalaureate Primary and Middle Years Programs can be conducted in any language, including Armenian. Therefore, there was no obstacle in the way of carrying out the Middle Years Program in Armenian. They asserted regarding the Diploma
Program that the languages, in which the latter was carried out, were English, French and Spanish and that there was a pilot program in German. And if an Armenian school complying with the required standards is opened, it will be recognized by the International Baccalaureate.
We Are Against Reopening Foreign Schools initiative group wrote a letter to the Dilijan School board of trustees at the time, in which it suggested that the education in this school be conducted on the basis of the Armenian language. Regarding the risks of the non-Armenian International Baccalaureate, the members of the initiative were concerned about the following – in Armenia, the inflow of big investments in the field of public education in foreign languages will cause a situation, in which Armenian schools will find themselves in unequal competitive conditions. It will discredit the public education in Armenian and naturally make parents who want their children to get the best education prefer foreign schools for their children. www.aravot.am called Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, the director of the public relations department, Dilijan International School, to ask for clarification whether education for Armenian students in Dilijan School would be in Armenian and for foreigners in a foreign language and whether the International Baccalaureate programs would eventually be adapted to our conditions. “Today the selection of academic programs is almost over, it is the International Baccalaureate and for younger students, it will be IGCSE. As for academic and generally the whole educational program of the school, it is under development and nothing is final at the moment. We have established an educational council, the principal of the school and people who play the main role in finally approving this kind of issues will arrive soon,” Ms. Zeytuntsyan told www.aravot.am.
She assured that although education at the school will mainly be in English, no child will be deprived of the possibility to learn his/her native language and history, There will be classes, during which Armenian children will learn the Armenian language, literature, history, culture and foreigners will learn their native language and literature. It will be done by free teachers, if the children are many and if they are few, online education will be provided. During the classes, children will tell about their country, history, culture in their native language or in English. So education is mainly in English, but we will create programs, in order that no child is deprived of studying his/her country’s language and culture.” Zeytuntsyan says that multiculturalism will be encouraged by that and all that will not lead to “classification” of Armenian and foreign children.
The director of the public relations department stated at the end of the conversation with us, “The main subjects will be taught to all students together with a possibility to learn their native language separately. There is another program that is not finished yet – every child studying in Armenia must speak Armenian at least at the colloquial, basic level and they will have classes for that. This is still a wish, which is not approved yet.”
As for the International Baccalaureate, according to Zeytuntsyan, there are some programs that will be translated into Armenian, but she doesn’t know yet whether they will be applied at the school or not, “I think that the school will not be fully mature, once it is opened.”
Gohar HAKOBYAN
