Thursday, 19 June 2008
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met with AYB club and educational fund representatives. The meeting was attended by President of AYB club council of founders, member of AYB educational fund board of trustees David Yan (Russia), President of AYB club board of trustees, AYB club member Karo Sargsyan (Russia), Executive Director of AYB educational fund, AYB club member Rev. Mesrop Aramyam (Armenia), educational fund board of trustees and AYB club members from Armenia and abroad.
The Prime Minister welcomed the AYB representatives to the Office of Government and expressed readiness to discuss all those ideas highlighted by AYB club and the educational fund. Tigran Sargsyan stated in particular:
"I wish to begin with the saying of Aristote which is the motto of your organization, namely: "Any man has an innate aspiration to knowledge." What it means is that any human has a natural disposition to knowledge and this mission of Lord's is pursued all the way through one's life. We need it more than ever in the 21st century. Life changes so rapidly that the mission of knowing becomes the main challenge for human beings and it is crucial for us to be in a position of shaping such an atmosphere and culture in the society as would cause education and learning to become key assets, youth to be brought up in this spirit so as no man could fancy himself without these highly valued assets. To my mind, AYB's chief mission is to promote awareness thereof and help shape the needed atmosphere in the society. This means that strong with the club's capacity and fund resources, the members of AYB club will have to try to set an example as to the feasibility of this vision in Armenia based on the best of international expertise. Moreover, by studying and mastering the worldwide experience, the club shall acknowledge the need for having it adapted to local conditions as the latter is supposed to help us get integrated with the modern world. In view of the above, we appreciate very much this initiative of AYB's in respect of launching both a unique club and a fund. The government welcomes your initiative for shaping an environment where life, education and culture will be intertwined to give birth to a new medium propitious for raising a modern man and will back it everyway. We intend to apply nationwide this apparently successful attempt of yours to demonstrate the outcome of our joint endeavors."
During the meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed on the activities and the future plans of the club. AYB was said to have been established in 2006 by people viewing their achievements as an outcome of educational background and keen on creating high-quality educational schemes by rallying the society round the idea of developing schooling in the country with a view to generating such an environment where education is perceived as a key value and a need throughout one's lifespan. The AYB fund as established with the aforementioned purpose was said to be implementing diversified activity in the educational sphere by developing educational reform-oriented programs, designing and implementing model environments, assisting gifted children in Armenia and so on.
The guests also spoke of the AYB-conceived Educational Juncture project by presenting its objectives, concept and implementation stages. They stressed that the Project is the most sizeable undertaking of the Fund aimed at building the first-ever schooling town in Armenia to be furnished with all key amenities, inclusive of a school, a church, a media art center, a sports complex, studios and workshops, youth hostels, parks etc. AYB plans to launch not only a 21st century-fit schooling institution but also intends to create a community - a micro society well aware of the need of such learning. The representatives of AYB advised that as designed for about 800 students, the Educational Juncture project will be located in Yerevan on a plot of land off the Tbilisyan motor-way and will be structured as a 3-stage facility consisting of elementary, secondary and high school modules.
The RA Prime Minister appreciated and welcomed all the mentioned programs and wished every success to AYB club and the Fund with the implementation of their noble mission.
