Good education is deed, not just words, says Armenian education professional
10:55 * 01.09.14
Ahead of the September 1 Knowledge Day, Tert.am has interviewed Anahit
Bakhshyan, a deputy director of the National Institute of Education.
Commenting on younger generation’s education and upbringing, the
education official said she believes that it is important to have good
examples on the upper levels of government to breed responsibility in
the younger generation.
What do you find to be a number one problem in our educational system?
It is to prepare good citizens for the Republic of Armenia; I mean
educating a human being who knows the law and his or her rights, as
well as the rights of others to be able to protect and be protected
and to serve the country. For me, this is the most important thing. My
experience shows that the children having the seed of a good citizen
do well at school and know what to do to be useful.
What prevents your words from becoming a reality?
Those children do not have that example. To make our school-children
patriotic and responsible citizens, it is necessary to have such
examples on the upper levels. But because our authorities have few
examples of the kind – I don’t say they do not have any at all – they
should never expect the society to become more civil. Today’s society
is more civil as it is than it was a couple of year ago.
As you spoke about patriotism, schools have now introduced new
subjects that still need to pass a probation period. The Ministry of
Education and Science, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense
and the volunteers’ union Yerkrapah [Defender of Land]. is elaborating
a concept aimed at patriotic-military education.
It is impossible to have such a subject. I am very sorry to note that
Mr Ashotyan [the minister of education and science] is an author of
such an initiative, but knowing him, I say that he very well knows or
must be aware that this isn’t something to be achieved through a
concept. Patriotic-military education is something every teacher has
to put into his or her subject if that person is really a patriot and
a devotee. It’s a problem every teacher has to resolve while teaching
each subject. No system is needed for them. I have to return to my
previous statement that a patriotic education is an example of
upbringing. If the government today equips and takes care of a school
in a border village the same way as it does in the capital, a child
who is growing up will say, ‘my country loves me, so I love my country
too, and I will serve it. Patriotism is a deed, not a word.
Armenian News – Tert.am