Author: Hagop Kamalian

A SCHOOL WITHOUT WALLS - ST. VARTAN CATHEDRAL ARMENIAN SCHOOL INITIATES NEW
PROJECTS

Armenian News Network / Armenian News


BY FLORENCE AVAKIAN
NEW YORK, NY

At a recent teacher's meeting with his staff, St. Vartan School Principal
Hovannes Khosdeghian emphasized his continuing goal of a "school without
walls," where students follow their interests, and where learning is a
pleasure.

As the youngsters enthusiastically enter the school held at the Eastern
Armenian Diocese, Khosdeghian is there to greet them with a wide smile and
warm hug.  The school session begins and ends with a prayer.

During the beginning "socialization" period, the children played excitedly
with each other.  "They miss each other," explains the principal.  "They love
the school, and the teachers, and don't feel embarrassed to go to the teachers
when they are in trouble."



The school which has 23 students, from ages two to the early teens, who come
every Saturday from 10 A.M to 2 P.M., not only learn the Armenian language,
but also partake in Armenian songs and dances.

"The music is related to Armenian historical periods," he explains.  "Their
ears which are not used to it, get used to the tonality."



A SET OF "MUSTS"

Since his own leadership at the St. Vartan Armenian School, he has instituted
a strong set of "musts" which include teachers observing the physical needs of
the children, especially for those who may have visual, hearing, or speaking
difficulties.

A child's home environment must also be evaluated, he emphasizes.  From the
age of five years, it's crucial that the sounds of the Armenian letters are
understood.  "A child cannot speak if he or she does not have the vocabulary,"
he explains.

A child should know a thousand words after being in the school a year.  After
one to three years in the school, the goal is 7500 words, and for a three to
eight-year old, the goal is 12000 words.  By age 10, "the learning gap between
children who can learn vocabulary quickly and those who do not is different.
Even when a child is sleeping, the brain is working," he explains.


INTEGRATIVE TEACHING

"A child needs the complete culture, including history, music, art, dance, not
just vocabulary," he continues.  "There has to be an integration of words,
pictures, environment.  A child can express oneself when she or he can
understand."

This integrative approach is based on the student's age, knowledge, school and
home environments, background, and delivery.  Communication by the teachers
must be based on the needs of the children," he stresses.

In a surprise statement, Khosdeghian stated, that "the child governs the
school, sets the school's pace.  The child should be engaged, not overwhelmed.
It should not be a system of a power relationship.  My job is to teach the
teachers who give voice and academic skills to the children."


IMPRESSIVE BACKGROUND

This detailed system of teaching is based on Hovannes' training for the
priesthood when he studied in Rome for six years.  His pedagogical training
emphasized an educational environment.

In 1980, Khosdeghian graduated from Rome's Saint Thomas Aquinas Pontifical
University.  Appointed Academic Dean in the Mekhitarian Seminary in Venice, he
"saw that what I learned there was the theoretical, not the practical."

At the Mekhitarist Fathers' Armenian School from 2009 to 2010, in Tujunga,
California, he applied the methodology and new techniques for grades two to
eight.  "In addition to the teachers, parents were also involved, and the
results were very successful."

In 2016, Hovannes Khosdeghian was appointed the principal of the St. Vartan
Armenian School, much to the delight of parents and children.

During the time of this writer's visit, a parent who was leaving at the end of
the school day, said emotionally, "I started crying last week in the car when
my children, ages five and seven, started singing the Armenian songs they had
learned in school."

                                        Tuesday, 

Pashinian Ally Hails Sarkisian Resignation Anniversary

        • Astghik Bedevian

Armenia -- Armenians celebrate the resignation of Prime Minister Serzh 
Sarkisian, Yerevan, April 23, 2018.

A close associate of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian congratulated Armenians on 
Tuesday on the first anniversary of the dramatic resignation of the country’s 
former leader, Serzh Sarkisian, announced amid mass protests against his 
continued rule.

“I want to congratulate all of us in connection with that event and say that a 
very important event happened in Armenia one year ago,” said Alen Simonian, a 
deputy parliament speaker and senior member of Pashinian’s My Step bloc.

“The people of Armenia once again proved their superior qualities,” Simonian 
told reporters.

Sarkisian stepped down on April 23, 2018 just six days after completing his 
second presidential term in office and becoming Armenia’s prime minister amid 
intensifying street protests organized by Pashinian.

“Nikol Pashinian was right, I was mistaken,” Sarkisian said in a written 
address to the nation.“There are several solutions to the existing situation 
but I will not opt for any of them. They are not to my liking.”

“The movement in the streets is against my tenure. I am fulfilling your 
demand,” he added.


ARMENIA -- A man covered with a national flag waves an opened bottle of a 
sparkling wine celebrating Armenian Prime Minister's Serzh Sarkisian's 
resignation in Republic Square in Yerevan, April 23, 2018

The announcement sparked jubilant scenes in the streets of Yerevan filled with 
hundreds of thousands of people demanding his resignation.

Sarkisian publicly rejected the demands for his resignation as recently as on 
April 22. At a short televised meeting with Pashinian, he accused the 
opposition leader of blackmailing “the legitimate authorities of the state.” “A 
faction that got 7-8 percent of the vote [in the April 2017 parliamentary 
elections] cannot speak on behalf of the people,” he said, referring to the 
opposition Yelk bloc, of which Pashinian was a leader.

Pashinian was detained more than an hour after that meeting while holding a 
fresh demonstration in Yerevan. The arrest only added to popular anger, with 
tens of thousands of people flocking to Republic Square later on April 22.

The protests resumed in Yerevan and other Armenian cities the following 
morning. Pashinian was set free in the afternoon, shortly before the 
announcement of Sarkisian’s resignation.

The then Armenian parliament controlled by Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) 
reluctantly elected Pashinian prime minister on May 8 under relentless pressure 
from huge crowds demonstrating across the country.

Pashinian’s protest movement was also backed by other major political forces, 
notably Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK). The BHK joined his 
first cabinet formed later in May. It is now in opposition to the government.


ARMENIA -- Opposition demonstrators gathered on the Republic Square celebrating 
Armenian Prime Minister's Serzh Sarkisian's resignation in Yerevan, April 23, 
2018

A senior BHK figure, Gevorg Petrosian, claimed on Tuesday that the “velvet 
revolution” has not lived up to the people’s expectations yet. “The people did 
the revolution in hopes that there will be a tangible, positive improvement in 
their lives in the very near future,” he said. “In the economic sense we don’t 
have tangible growth right now.”

Simonian disagreed, saying that Pashinian’s government is consistently 
improving the economic situation in Armenia with sweeping reforms. “This is an 
ongoing process which will continue unabated,” he said. “Everything will be 
done so that Armenia’s citizens feel the difference on their skin, in their 
family budgets.”

Earlier this month the current parliament controlled by My Step approved a 
government proposal to designate the last Saturday of April as a public holiday 
called Citizen’s Day. Pashinian insisted in March that the new holiday will be 
dedicated to “the victory of the people and democracy,” rather than his rise to 
power.



Russian Military Said To Deploy More Advanced Jets In Armenia

        • Emil Danielyan

Singapore -- A Sukhoi SU-30 fighter jet from the Royal Malaysian Air Force 
performs a slow fly past during the Singapore Airshow at Changi exhibition 
center in Singapore, February 16, 2016

Russia will replace its 18 MiG-29 fighter jets stationed in Armenia with more 
sophisticated and powerful aircraft, it was reported on Tuesday

Citing an unnamed official in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, the TASS news 
agency said the Russian military will start deploying Sukhoi Su-30SM jets to 
the Erebuni airbase in Yerevan next year.

“The delivery of the aircraft will be carried out in two phases: in 2020 and 
2021,” the said the unnamed source. “It is planned that all 18 MiG-29s, which 
are currently flown by pilots of the airbase, will be replaced by Su-30SMs.”

Su-30SM is a modernized version of a heavy fighter jet developed by the Sukhoi 
company in the late 1980s. The Russian military received the first batch of 
such aircraft in 2012. It can carry much heavier and more wide-ranging rockets 
and has more advanced electronic equipment than MiG-29, which was designed in 
the 1970s.


Armenia - A Russian MiG-29 fighter jet prepares for takeoff at the Erebuni air 
base in Yerevan, 12Mar2016.

The Russian ambassador to Armenia, Sergey Kopyrkin, did not deny or confirm the 
TASS report when he spoke to journalists later on Tuesday. “I am not prepared 
to talk about this subject in detail,” Kopyrkin said, according to the Sputnik 
news agency.

For its part, Armenia’s Defense Ministry declined to comment on the possible 
deployment of Su-30SM aircraft, saying that Moscow has made no official 
statements to that effect.

An Armenian government source told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Yerevan would 
welcome such a deployment because Su-30SM is more modern than the aging MiG-29s 
that are part of the Russian military base in Armenia. The MiG-29s were 
modernized by the Russian Air Force several years ago.

The Russia base headquartered in Gyumri is in turn part of Russia’s Southern 
Military District. The district commander, Colonel-General Alexander Dvornikov, 
met with the visiting chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, 
Lieutenant-General Artak Davtian, on April 19.


Russia -- Colonel-General Alexander Dvornikov (L), commander of Russia's 
Southern Military District, meets with Lieutenant-General Artak Davtian (R), 
the Amrenian army chief of staff, April 19, 2019.

According to the Armenia Defense Ministry, the two generals discussed “joint 
combat readiness activities.” A ministry statement said Dvornikov also praised 
the most recent Russian-Armenian military exercises that were held at a 
training ground 50 kilometers west of Yerevan on April 1-12.

Earlier this year, Moscow and Yerevan signed a contract for the delivery of 
four Sukhoi Su-30SM jets to Armenia. Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan said in 
February that the Armenian military will receive them by the beginning of 2020. 
It plans to buy more such aircraft in the following years, he said.

Financial details of the fighter jet deal remain unknown. Membership in the 
Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) entitles Armenia to 
buying Russian weapons at discounted prices.



Armenian Law-Enforcement Body Reports Sharp Rise In Corruption Probes


Armenia -The Investigative Committee headquarters in Yerevan.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee said on Tuesday that the number of state 
officials and other individuals prosecuted by it on corruption charges more 
than doubled last year.

In a detailed statement, the law-enforcement agency, which conducts the vast 
majority of criminal investigations in the country, revealed that it opened 
1,077 corruption-related cases in 2018, up from 403 such cases in 2017. It said 
presumed embezzlement or misuse of public funds accounted for the largest share 
of those inquiries, followed by almost 130 alleged instances of bribery.

The Investigative Committee said 382 individuals working in the central or 
local government bodies, the security apparatus and other public institutions 
were charged with various corrupt practices as a result. It reported a total of 
77 corruption-related arrests of these and other people, compared with 23 
arrests made in 2017.

The committee did not specify whether the bulk of these actions were taken 
after last spring’s mass protests which toppled Armenia’s former government 
accused by its political opponents of not only tolerating but also sponsoring 
corruption.

Public discontent with widespread graft is thought to be one of the reasons for 
the “velvet revolution.” Nikol Pashinian, the revolution leader elected prime 
minister in May, claims to have already eliminated “systemic corruption” in 
Armenia.

The most high-profile corruption probes launched after the revolution have 
targeted relatives and cronies of Serzh Sarkisian, the country’s deposed former 
leader. In particular, one of his two brothers, Levon, was charged with 
“illegal enrichment” after tax inspectors discovered in June 2018 that he and 
his two children hold almost $7 million in undeclared deposits at an Armenian 
bank. Levon Sarkisian, who is known to have worked only in the public sector, 
apparently left Armenia shortly before being indicted.



Press Review



“Zhoghovurd” comments on the first anniversary of Serzh Sarkisian’s dramatic 
resignation as Armenia’s newly elected prime minister. “He resigned under 
popular pressure,” writes the paper. “Although he said the day before that ‘a 
political force that got 7 percent of the vote has no right to speak on behalf 
of the people’ and hinted at another March 1-style crackdown, he admitted on 
April 23: ‘Nikol Pashinian was right, I was wrong.’ There was a real jubilation 
in Armenia on the day of Serzh Sarkisian’s resignation.” The paper says that 
the greatest achievement of the past year was the conduct of free and fair 
parliamentary elections in December. It also praised the new government’s 
economic policies and record.

“Aravot” says that judging from continuing statements made by senior members of 
Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), they “still do not understand 
and do not even try to understand that they were rejected and are hated to this 
day.” “They think that the revolution which happened one year ago was the 
result of a skillful use of public relations and political ‘color’ techniques,” 
editorializes the paper. “Far from denying that factor, we have to point out 
that it plaid a secondary role. They key thing was the public mood which 
accumulated in the past 20 years.”

“The events of last year must also serve as a lesson for the current 
authorities. Childish jubilation and blind worship are as dangerous as 
courtier’s flattery,” concludes “Aravot.”

“Zhamanak” says Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has trouble making Armenians 
understand what the “economic revolution” promised by him is all about. The 
paper says the main reason for this is that people have traditionally expected 
their government to give them tangible economic benefits, rather than create 
conditions for prosperity. “This is where a dialogue is not taking place,” it 
says, adding that Pashinian and his associates themselves nurtured this “old 
mindset” when they were in opposition to the country’s former governments.

(Lilit Harutiunian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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