The President of the Armenian Association for Academic Partnership and Support NGO (ARMACAD), professor of the Department of Iranian Studies at the Yerevan State University Khachik Gevorgyan wrote on his Facebook page,- “On June 21, ARMACAD will celebrate its 6 years of operations. Those 6 years are 1/5th of my life. Those 6 years were the period of scientific educational successes for thousands of Armenians. And to the best of my honesty, I say that I, as an ARMACAD founder, moderator, assistant and administrator, enjoyed those six years….”. Aravot.am inquired from Khachik Gevorgyan whether the expectations related to ARMACAD are justified, whether he is pleased with the results and as to how the idea of creating such a network was born. Our interlocutor said that when he was at a training in Germany in 2006 by DAAD scholarship, right in the same University he was coming across to Armenians at every step, seeing people that studied and worked in the same city and had no idea that this place apart from them, there are more Armenians. In March 2007, on returning Armenia, Khachik Gevorgyan thinks that it is necessary to establish an organization through which it will be possible to know from Armenia and Diaspora, who studies where, if possible, to establish contacts, ask questions. In short, the birth of the Armenian Association for Academic Partnership and Support was clearly outlined, it is the demand of time, and thus it was established. “Now when I make a retrospective look, I’m convinced that all the goals and requirements that were provided for by the charter of the organization and its name is completely executed. With the help of ARMACAD the Armenians are able to recognize various universities and ask for information and support from each other”,-says the President of ARMACAD.
He also spoke of an incident that has made him zealous to established ARMACAD for sure. “On May 2007, I attended an event in Armenia, which was attended by people in the academic field, university professors, government officials and others; it was a Coffee Break type of meeting. By chance, I heard a talk between two people. One was telling the other’s ear,- “Do you know that there’s a very good announcement to attend a summer school, the costs of which are covered by the organizers. Personally, I can not go, but it will send the announcement to you. Do not tell anybody so that you are the only applicant from Armenia and definitely pass”. At that time I realized that there is a monopoly of academic, educational announcements in Armenia, some, maybe often not so much deserved, receive the announcements in so-and-so way, or find them on Internet, they either apply themselves or their parents do it for them. Therefore, the idea of establishing adequate system became stronger, a system where each person will be able to disseminate information, and each will have access to it in given network. Now 8100 e-mail addresses are registered in ARMACAD, of which 85 percent is from Armenia. It is not possible anymore to organize any University Summer School, or a scholarship, which will be owned by 2-3 people, immediately, all 8000 people are informed about it by email and on our Facebook page, where we have more than 16,000 participants”. Our interlocutor told that AMAKAD is not limited to disseminating information; it is a community in which each successful member shares the experience gained in the process of studying in abroad and, also, the key to success. ARMACAD implements the campaign of introducing the best ideas and initiatives in Armenian.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
