“We want to express our satisfaction with the teaching of French language at schools in Armenia,” such a general response was given by French Ambassador, Henri Reynaud, again without deviating from his “diplomatic rules,” to the question of Aravot.am of whether the French Embassy is ready to be refrained from participating in establishment of foreign language schools for ethnic Armenian schoolchildren in Armenia, and in support projects. As we know, “We are against Foreign Language Schools” initiative group issued a statement, which particularly reads as follows, “We apply to foreign countries’ governments and organizations to refrain from participating in establishment of foreign language schools for ethnic Armenian schoolchildren in Armenia, also in support projects. Instead, once again, we call on improvement of education system in Armenian language schools. This would be a very grateful task, because providing quality education accessible to everyone, without any discrimination, is a prerequisite for any developed country. No less important is the fact that it would greatly maintain and promote the security and development of Armenian language.” With this regard, in response to our question, the French Embassy was amazed. The ambassador, the interpreter and the media specialist mentioned in surprise that they are unaware of it. Aravot.am sent given question in written to almost all embassies in Armenia. We received the following response from Lilit Kalantaryan, Communication Officer at the British Embassy, “For your information, the British Embassy, in the course of its projects and activities, has repeatedly supported and is supporting the improvement of the educational system in Armenia. Particularly, the British Council programs enable English language teachers from many more schools to be trained and improve their skills. And most importantly, our contribution over these years was the heating system repair at the school named after Lord Byron in Gyumri, as well as continuous and direct support to school’s educational programs. Therefore, we inform you that the British Embassy, on behalf of the British government, implements numerous projects in public schools of Armenia.” Answering the question of whether the British Embassy is ready to be refrained from participating in establishment of foreign language schools for ethnic Armenian schoolchildren, also in support projects, Lilith Kalantaryan mentioned. “As for the international schools, they are private, and provide diversity in any the country’s educational system, as well as enables people to choose.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
