Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the opening ceremony of the newly built secondary school in Parakar.
During the tour, the Prime Minister got acquainted with the work carried out and the conditions created at the school. The school has been equipped with modern equipment and property.
The cost of the project is 2 billion 189.9 million AMD. The school was built with the co-financing of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, under the Seismic Safety Improvement Program of the Asian Development Bank. It is designed for 576 students.
The Prime Minister congratulated those present on the completion of the construction of the magnificent school and expressed hope that the period when visiting newly built schools was a stressful experience is being overcome step by step. “But we also knew and know that yes, this is a learning process for both the Government and the construction sector, because there are indeed many nuances that are essential for bringing the work we do into line with the concept of construction,” said Nikol Pashinyan, highlighting the program to build, reconstruct and overhaul 300 schools and 500 kindergartens. According to the Prime Minister, from the very beginning they may have guessed that yes, this is also a learning process, to manage, implement, design, evaluate, manage the process, and also to solve issues of economic efficiency, “but it is obvious that we are learning and we are happy about it.”
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“And it is very important that we announce and do this, it is not by chance that we, specifically I, have set myself the task of being personally present in all such schools, not only because I want to emphasize the importance of the program, that it is part of the learning process, because it is one thing to talk about the operation of the theoretical construction of a theoretical school in a theoretical place, it is another thing to be on site, to see people, to feel their emotions, to see the environment. One thing made me very happy, that the school is located right next to the highway and, of course, decorates the Echmiadzin-Yerevan highway with its magnificent appearance, but I was also a little sorry that the view is blocked by trees, but the trees are certainly more important than the view,” the Prime Minister noted.
The Prime Minister emphasized that school should teach children to live well, because it is very important that we impart knowledge to our children that is practical precisely for living well, precisely from the point of view of living well. Nikol Pashinyan noted that we all need to understand that one of the biggest problems plaguing our country, for example, poverty, is largely and mainly related to education. “If we want to study the cause-and-effect relationships of poverty in any family, any individual, we will definitely deal with some gap that has arisen during education, general education, there is simply no other option. It is very important that we go this way and we must reduce the level of pathos in our communication with children at school, school should be close to life, knowledge should be close to life, learning should be close to life and yes, at school children should first of all learn to live well. This does not contradict our traditional ideas about education at all, because children should know that living well does not mean eating and drinking too much, children should know that living well means eating healthily, children should know that living well means living an active life, being active, adopting a healthy lifestyle, children should know that respect for others, respecting and receiving respect, respecting the rights and freedom of others are an integral part of living well,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
According to the Prime Minister, children should know that living well means having an environment free from violence and living in an environment free from violence. Nikol Pashinyan noted that there are two types of being rich, one of which is shameful, and the other is welcome. The wealth that is formed through knowledge, work and legal means is not only not shameful, but also encouraging, desirable for the individual, the community, the public, and the state. “And the wealth that is created illegally, through corruption, in a criminal way, is shameful and should be universally despised. In other words, the skill of a good life is a key factor that should be taught in schools, because children should know that one can live well by being a good musician, one can live well by being a good artist, one can live well by being a good teacher,” the Prime Minister said.
Noting that the process of voluntary certification of teachers is underway, the Prime Minister noted that there are criticisms, discussions related to it and that they are also a learning process for the Government and others. “Why are we doing this? Because we want the teacher to be able to live well with his work, so that he, in turn, can pass on the skills of living well to his students. And finally, we must be able to convey to our children that a good life can be lived only thanks to work, but we must also be able to convey that a good life is not possible thanks to every work, because work must be effective, work must be productive, work must be economically justified, and so on. Therefore, all this in no way contradicts either chemistry, physics, geography, social studies, or history; on the contrary, it is very important that we know why we are teaching all these subjects to our children, not for the sake of some loud words that have nothing to do with real life, which they, and often we, do not understand, but it’s for a very specific purpose in life and the environment,” Nikol Pashinyan noted.
According to the Prime Minister, children should know that living well means taking care of the environment, because the environment, especially in the 21st century, is mainly created by man for himself. In other words, whatever environment he creates, he lives in that environment. According to the Prime Minister, if that environment is suitable for a good life, then it is possible to live well there, if it is not suitable for a good life, then it is not possible to live well.
“And, here, in our perception, we have created a good environment for you so that this conversation can take place between teachers, between teachers and students. In our opinion, this gives you the opportunity to create, think, formulate what you think, materialize what you formulate, make what you materialize accessible to others and share it with others. And we want this school to strengthen you, dear children, strengthen you physically, strengthen you spiritually, strengthen you mentally.
I agree with the director that all conditions have been created, the Government is handing over this school today to the community, students, and teachers, and these walls are still just walls, and starting from Monday you will make it live. And these walls will be inspired by the breath that you will breathe into these walls during your work, your studies,” said Nikol Pashinyan, expressing wish that the walls of the school be full of life, creativity, with the boundless aspiration to live well, to live in a happy country, to live in a free country, to live in an independent country, to live in a sovereign country, to live in a prosperous country, with determination and conviction that this will become a reality thanks to the joint work of all of us.
“I would like to thank everyone who participated in the construction and creation of this school, and first of all, I would like to congratulate the students, teachers, the people of Parakar, and then all of us and the Republic of Armenia on the occasion of the opening of another school,” concluded the Prime Minister.
The Office to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia
