RA ESCS Minister Zhanna Andreasyan received Gulzat Tynibekovna Isamatova, Minister of Science, Higher Education and Innovation, and Dogdurkul Kendirbaeva, Minister of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The officials are visiting Armenia as part of with the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17).
Welcoming the guests, Minister Zhanna Andreasyan highlighted the importance of the opportunity created by COP17 to hold thematic discussions with partner countries.
“The priorities in education are largely the same: improving efficiency, applying information technologies and artificial intelligence, promoting digital literacy, and more. I am pleased that we can engage in discussions on both shared priorities and specific programs, identifying avenues for cooperation between our two countries,” Zhanna Andreasyan said.
Gulzat Tynibekovna Isamatova and Dogdurkul Kendirbaeva thanked the Minister for the warm welcome, noting that their visit to Armenia also provides an opportunity to learn about the country’s education system and, where appropriate, initiate an exchange of experience with a view to adapting the Armenian education model to their national context.
The parties discussed their respective experiences in implementing education reforms. The Kyrgyz delegation expressed particular interest in Armenia’s 12-year general education system, educational programs in artificial intelligence, preschool education reforms, initiatives aimed at developing human capital, and teacher incentive schemes, among other areas.
In this context, Zhanna Andreasyan briefly presented the activities of the Armath engineering laboratories operating in Armenian schools, TUMO centres, and the Artificial Intelligence Centre at Yerevan State University, as well as the key directions and progress of education reforms in Armenia. Higher education and science were also discussed separately. The parties emphasized the importance of strengthening inter-university ties, conducting joint research, and implementing collaborative projects.
The parties also highlighted the importance of efforts by the relevant subordinate institutions to ensure the vitality and continued use of their respective native languages.
It should be noted that, in the coming days, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in education and science is expected to be signed between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Innovation of the Kyrgyz Republic. An agreement on cooperation in education is also expected to be signed between the Armenian Ministry and the Ministry of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic.