Wednesday, 17 September 2008
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received the WB educational programs mission, led by World Bank Armenia office director Aristomene Varudakis.
The World Bank Armenia office director and educational programs coordinator Juan Manuel Moreno briefed the head of RA government on those Bank-supported programs carried out in Armenia's educational sector and the actions envisaged for the next 4 years under the WB Country Assistance Strategy. The mission asked the Prime Minister about his comments on the government's educational strategy program and discussed the preparations vision for a few years ahead. As assured by Bank representatives, the strategy will focus on higher education with a key objective being to improve the quality of education both in preschool and school teaching. Using state-of-the-art technologies and supporting the government's initiatives, the World Bank intends to better the situation by means of adequate investments covering the shortfalls identified so far.
The Prime Minister stressed that education is set as a priority in the government program with education modernization and quality being at the top of its policy agenda. Mentioning that the current state of affairs does not live up the government's expectations, Tigran Sargsyan prioritized the introduction of good governance practices in order all scheduled programs are carried into effect: "Not only do quality standards call for developing and introducing activities but they also need follow-up action," the Prime Minister said.
The head of the Armenian government similarly stated that the Lisbon Declaration is in full harmony with his government's vision of the sector, namely the building of society along university lines. The Armenian minister of education assured in turn that his agency is prepared to meet any requirement set by the Bologna process and in this respect he prioritizes supporting higher educational institutions as much as possible.
In conclusion, the Prime Minister thanked the World Bank for collaboration and readiness to assist the Government with its educational programs.
