Armenia’s ministry of education, US Embassy and COAF sign memorandum of understanding

On 13 November, at the graduation ceremony of COAF’s English Access program, Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) Managing Director Koryun Khachaturyan, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Lynne M. Tracy, and Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding extending the pilot initiative “English-Speaking Rural Schools”, the US Embassy in Armenia told Armenpress.

The new venture aims to drive forward the promotion and dissemination of English language at formal education level across 24 schools and 22 rural communities in the Lori region of Armenia. By running parallel to COAF’s ongoing extracurricular English Access programs, this new deal will extend the present efforts of COAF and the U.S. Embassy on English education beyond the scope of after-school programs.

Building English language proficiency in Armenia is critical to strengthening competitiveness and employment opportunities in local and international markets. To help develop skills and competencies in the world’s language of business and bring cultural diversity to Armenia’s most overlooked communities, COAF and the U.S. Embassy have collaborated closely for the past 10 years and taken necessary steps to promote English proficiency: what started with 100 students has grown to reach 1,465 rural youth.

The new partnership with the Ministry of Ed...