The selection of schools that will advance to the candidacy phase of the Araratian Baccalaureate (AB) internationally recognized Armenian-language educational program is still underway, however, we already know how many schools will start their candidacy phase this year.
This year, AB school candidacy phase will kickstart in 21 schools offering the high school program: 20 in Armenian regions and one in Stepanakert. This means these schools will be able to be certified starting from 2018 and offer the AB program, including the AB curricula in one class. Upon their wish, schools may also opt to offer the program in the entire schools.See the full list of the 21 schools here.
The final selection of these candidate schools has been made based on։• individual visits to preselected 27 schools made from February 22 to March 10; • individual meetings of the teams of those 27 schools with the members of the AB Candidate School Selection Committee held on March 11-12.The members of the AB Candidate School Selection Committee are Minister of Education and Science of Armenia Levon Mkrtchyan, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Davit Sahakyan, Deputy Defense Minister, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ayb Educational Foundation, advisor to the president of Armenia on Education, Director of the National Program for Educational Excellence (NPEE) Fr. Mesrop Aramian, and AGBU (Armenian General Benevolent Union) Central Board Member President of AGBU Armenia Vasken Yacoubian.
As a reminder, 54 schools in Armenian regions and one school in Stepanakert had applied to offer the AB program. Based on the study of the submitted applications these schools have been distributed as per the year they will enter the candidacy phase.
The Araratian Baccalaureate (AB) is an internationally recognized Armenian-language 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 in Armenian regions and Stepanakert with at least one class with the goal to expand in the future. The first regional schools to offer the AB program are expected to welcome their first AB students on September 1, 2018.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.
