The delegation of the Ayb Educational Foundation was in England from January 11 to 13 to have working meetings with specialists from the University College London (UCL) Institute of Education (IoE), Ayb’s international partner within the framework of the National Program for Educational Excellence (NPEE) over the past two years.
The improvement of the Araratian Baccalaureate (AB) teacher development program as well as approaches to AB subject delivery and syllabi development were in the focus of the visit. The discussions also covered various textbook and curriculum development approaches, the employment of which might have significant impact on Armenia’s general education system.
Overall, Ayb representatives had 14 working meetings with 9 specialists from the UCL IOE, among them such globally known education experts as Senior Lecturer in History, Dr. Arthur Chapman, Senior Lecturers in Education Lesley Burgess, Dr. John Yandell and Dr. Jacek Brant.
The Araratian Baccalaureate (AB) is an Armenian-language internationally recognized educational program, which is to provide competitive school education for all schoolchildren in Armenia. The Program was designed by the Ayb Educational Foundation and was further improved within the framework of the National Program for Educational Excellence (NPEE).
In the first stage, the program will be rolled out to selected schools of Armenian regions with at least one class and has the goal to expand in the future.
The program is carried out along with the Ministry of Education and Science in collaboration with Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and the University College London (UCL) Institute of Education (IOE). The program will be offered along with the state program, granting students broader opportunities for the high school educational program and ensuring local and international recognition of their education, graduation marks, and diplomas.
In 2015, AB was benchmarked by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and was found comparable to UK GCE A Levels. In August 2016, one of the most reputable agencies of recognition and comparison of international qualifications and skills – UK NARIC – also found AB comparable to leading international educational programs such as the UK GCE A Levels and US Advanced Placement (AP). AB’s comparability to these educational programs grants Armenian students the chance to take international exams in Armenian and, based on their results, be able to get admitted to top universities around the world or be granted credits in those universities.
