As part of the working visit to Paris, RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan had a meeting with the French Minister of National Education Édouard Geffray.
The meeting was also attended by ESCS Deputy Minister Arthur Martirosyan and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to France, Arman Khachatryan.
Thankful for the warm reception, Zhanna Andreasyan highlighted the strong and sustained cooperation between Armenia and France in the field of education, reiterating Armenia's commitment to continuing and expanding joint initiatives.
The ESCS Minister presented the key reforms currently underway in Armenia's education system, with particular emphasis on the integration of artificial intelligence into education. She highlighted the “Generation AI” and “STEP.AI” programs implemented in high schools, as well as the multi-level “Generation AI” educational initiative, which is designed to train AI specialists through a continuous educational pathway spanning from school to postgraduate education.
Zhanna Andreasyan also presented the cooperation between the ESCS Ministry and the “OpenAI” international company under which ChatGPT Edu will become available to Armenia's educational community starting this September. The initiative will provide approximately 50,000 subscriptions for students, teachers, and researchers. In this context, the opportunities for exchanging experience and developing joint initiatives in the field of artificial intelligence were also discussed.
The meeting also addressed non-formal education initiatives, with particular reference to the TUMO center in Paris, where significant emphasis is likewise placed on integrating artificial intelligence into educational programs.
Welcoming the Armenian delegation, French Minister of National Education Édouard Geffray highly praised the productive cooperation established between the two countries in the field of education, emphasizing that it is built on mutual trust and shared values. He underscored the importance of joint initiatives aimed at promoting the teaching of the French language in Armenia, noting that they contribute not only to the wider use of French but also to strengthening the multifaceted ties between the two countries.
Édouard Geffray also presented France's initiatives on artificial intelligence in education, noting that AI literacy has been incorporated into the national school curriculum as a distinct educational component.
The discussions also covered cooperation in the field of early childhood education, including opportunities to implement joint professional development programs for preschool educators and to expand the exchange of experience.
Noting that preschool education has become compulsory and free of charge in France since 2019, Minister Geffray outlined the key features of the country's early childhood education system.
The Armenian and French ministers also discussed the growing challenge of children's excessive use of social media. They emphasized that both countries are developing appropriate measures and regulatory approaches aimed at restricting and supervising schoolchildren's access to social media platforms in order to ensure a safer digital environment for young people.
Zhanna Andreasyan suggested establishing a more structured and long-term framework for cooperation between the two ministries by expanding bilateral study visits and strengthening the systematic exchange of expertise and best practices.
The parties reiterated their commitment to further advancing cooperation in the field of education.