Only Armenian school in Jordan about to close

July 22, 2018 By administrator

A decision has been taken to shut down the only Armenian school operating in Jordan, a move that can pose a serious threat to the local Armenian community’s existence, Maral Nersessian, one of the community members, said on Facebook.

She says their existence is already put at risk outside the community amid unprecedented mixed marriages and union-related issues, and now without the school serving as ‘the pillar of the community, it is set to face a reality marked by radical threats.’

Nersessian is alerting that the number of school students is falling year by year, with the major blow to the school being the migration of Syrian Armenians.

Chinese-language school to open in Yerevan on September 1

June 13, 2018 By administrator

A Chinese-language school will open in the Armenian capital city of Yerevan on September 1, Chinese ambassador to Yerevan Tian Erlun said at a meeting with Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan.

At a meeting with former Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan in January, the ambassador had said that $15 million were allotted for the construction of the school in Yerevan.

The ambassador said that the Chinese side will conclude building the school in the second half of August, as agreed before.

Also, the diplomat revealed that the Chinese government is ready to provide support in the process of organizing Chinese language studies and will send teachers for the upcoming academic year.

Also, issues concerning higher education in Armenian and Chinese institutions and expanding cooperation in the field of education were high on the agenda.

‘You have the country’s future in your hands’ – President tells school graduates Video

May 25, 2018 By administrator

YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has addressed high school graduates as children are celebrating the Last Bell in Armenian schools – the traditional graduation ceremony.

“My dears,

Today, the school bell will ring one last time for you. But I wouldn’t want to say that you are having your last lesson, because you still have many lessons to learn, and why not, many will learn lessons from you. You are at the beginning of a new path,” the president said in a congratulatory message published on his website.

“I am sure that in the context of the latest changes in our country you were convinced what kind of an able force youth is, what kind of an frantic age adolescence is, and what you yourselves can achieve, if you are united and believe in your strength”, the president continued.

“Education is one of our most important values”, Armen Sarkissian said, urging the children to value the efforts of the teachers and parents, and to use their knowledge.

“You are holding not only your own futures in your hands, but also the future of the country”, the president said, calling on the graduates to confidently move forward. “Believe that today’s last school bell is guiding you towards the Armenia of your dreams”.

The Last Bell – the graduation ceremony in high schools across– is taking place May 25 this year in Armenia.

Yerevan City Hall is organizing a concert in the evening outside the Opera Theater.

The ceremony in Artsakh will take place May 26 because educational institutions in the country operate 6 days a week.

Assyrians struggling for a primary school in Istanbul

September 30, 2017 By administrator

By Uzay BulutSaturday, September 30, 2017

The new school year has started this month in Turkey, but Assyrian Christians, otherwise known as Syriacs or Chaldeans, still do not have a single primary school in the country where they could learn their native language and culture.

The Istanbul-based newspaper Agos reported that the activists of the Syriac community applied to the Ministry of National Education in 2012 to get its permission and support to open a Syriac kindergarten in Istanbul. When their application was rejected, they took on a legal struggle and were finally able to open the Mor Efrem kindergarten without any economic support from the government.

The Mor Efrem kindergarten currently has 50 students and will be open for the fourth semester this year, but unfortunately, there is not a Syriac elementary school in Istanbul where its graduates would be able to enroll.

The Virgin Mary Ancient Syriac Church Foundation in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul is still struggling to open a Syriac elementary school in the city. The officials of the foundation stated that it is impossible for them to open an elementary school without governmental support.

Sait Susin, the head of the foundation, said: “We started our preparations for the school but we are faced with a huge financial burden. It is impossible for us to overcome it, not even with donations. We do need economic support.”

Susin added that their most important need is a building and if the government provides it for them, they will be able to afford other costs. “We have applied to the ministry for that, but we still haven’t received a result,” said Susin.

Assyrians are a Christian people indigenous to the Middle East. Istanbul has an Assyrian community, estimated in around 15,000, but the number is only an approximation. The Turkish government does not officially recognize Assyrians as a distinct ethnic community, so it does not conduct a census on them.

However, in the Ottoman Empire in 1913-1914, there were 2,580 schools belonging to non-Muslims, 29 were Assyrian schools. The last Assyrian school in Turkey, which was located in the city of Mardin, was closed down in 1928 and afterwards, Assyrians were not allowed by Turkish governments to open a primary school where they would be educated in their native language for the next 90 years.

The Assyrian people have inhabited the region since the beginning of recorded history and for 300 years, Assyrian kings ruled the then largest empire of the world. A stateless people today, Assyrians have been continuously brutalized by Muslims in the territory – Turks, Kurds, Arabs, and Persians. The greatest systematic violence against Assyrians and their civilization took place before, during, and at the aftermath of WWI at the hands of the Turkish regimes in what is now Turkey.

According to a report by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) of the Rutgers University–Newark,
“The Assyrian people have been repeatedly victimized by genocidal assaults over the past century. They first suffered, along Ottoman Greeks and Armenians, from Turkey’s simultaneous genocides during and immediately after World War I… Massacres, rapes, plundering, cultural desecrations, and forced deportations were all endemic. Around 750,000 Assyrians died during the genocide, amounting to nearly three quarters of its prewar population. The rest were dispersed elsewhere, mostly in the Middle East.”

After the 1914-1923 genocide, Assyrian Christians were left out of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which set the boundaries of republican Turkey and became the defining document for the rights and freedoms to be provided for the non-Muslim minorities.

However, the rights of Assyrians were not even mentioned in the treaty. And ever since, not a single Turkish government has carried out democratic reforms to change this situation and finally grant Assyrians their rights. As a result, Assyrians still do not have schools or other government-funded institutions in the country.

The persecution of Assyrians such as the plundering or expropriation of their properties continued after the Turkish republic was established in 1923 and is still going on.

In late June, for example, the Turkish government seized dozens of properties belonging to Assyrian Christians − such as churches, monasteries and cemeteries − and transferred them to public institutions.

On July 15, the Syriac monthly paper, Sabro, reported that,
“In the Sur district of Diyarbakir, a historic church belonging to Syriacs-Chaldeans as well as 12 shops and 2 homes belonging to the church foundation have been expropriated with a cabinet decree.”

In the meanwhile, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on September 13:

“In the 15 years since St Hurmizd was founded, the Assyrian primary school in Western Sydney has grown from a cohort of 85 students, to more than 700. All of the students come from non-English speaking, Assyrian backgrounds, and nearly 200 are new refugee arrivals. Many were welcomed to Australia as part of the Government’s intake of 12,000 Iraqis and Syrians earlier this year.”

If the Australian government can provide Assyrian refugee children with a primary school, why does the Turkish government, a member of NATO and perpetual candidate for EU membership, not do the same for the indigenous Assyrian children in Turkey?

It seems that Turkey’s Assyrian community is going through the latest stage of genocide. US officials should immediately urge the Turkish government to respect the Assyrian right to education as well as their religious liberty. For the Assyrian civilization to survive, the religious and cultural values of Assyrians – and particularly their native language – should be freely used, learnt, and preserved by the community.

But it would not be very realistic to assume that the Turkish government, which is busy with seizing Assyrian properties, would soon provide Assyrians with basic human rights. Hence, it appears to be the ethical and urgent responsibility of Christian leaders in the US and across the world to support the dwindling Assyrian community in Turkey economically as well as psychologically. For if they do not do that, nobody else will. And if the current community plundering and a lack of cultural rights continue, yet another native Christian community in Turkey will eventually be extinct.

Uzay Bulut

Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist and political analyst formerly based in Ankara. She graduated from Istanbul’s Bogazici University in 2007 with a BA in Translation and Interpreting Studies. She holds a master’s degree in Media and Cultural Studies at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

Source: https://philosproject.org/assyrians-primary-school-istanbul/

Armenian school marks 150th anniversary in Istanbul

May 3, 2017 By administrator

Armenians in Istanbul have celebrated the 150th anniversary of Kalafyan School, the cradle of national identity and culture, Agos reports.
Students in national costumes performed ethnic songs and dances at the ceremony which featured also a video reel telling about the school’s foundation and history.
“Today, Kalafyan is the only school which, apart from Istanbul-Armenian students, admits also children from different corners of Western Armenia as a boarding school. For them, Kalafyan it is the source of revealing their Armenian identity, culture and language,” said Diana Kamparosian, the chairperson of the school’s orphanage foundation.
Founded in 1887, the school initially pursued a mission to educate and give safe haven to orphans.

UWC Dilijan in Armenia included in Forbes’ top five schools

January 26, 2017 By administrator

The UWC Dilijan was listed among Forbes‘ compilation of top five schools created with the assistance of Russian billionaires.

Founded by Ruben Vardanyan and his wife Veronika Zonabend, the college is the 14th member of the UWC (United World Colleges) movement, one of seventeen colleges around the world. The college matriculated its first 96 IB1 students in September 2014.

Situated in a city of the same name in Armenia’s north, UWC Dilijan is a boarding school for talented children from around the world, Forbes says.

“After the entrance exams, the selection committee may send a student to study in another country that also hosts such a school from the same network.

“198 students from a total of 72 countries currently study at the school in Armenia,” Forbes said.

Also included in the list of schools established by billionnairs from Forbes’ “rating of the rich” are Letovo School (founded by Vadim Moshkovich), The First Moscow Private School (Elena Baturina), the educational center Sirius (Talent and Success foundation of Sergey Roldugin), as well as PERImeter educational and cultural center in Dagestan (Peri charity foundation of Russian billionaire Ziyaudin Magomedov), scheduled to open in September 2017.

Spain: Armenian school opened in Madrid

January 17, 2017 By administrator

Armenian Sunday School named after Mesrop Mashtots opened its doors in Madrid, Hayern Aysor Armenian news website reported.

According to the source, Armenian children living in Spain will have the opportunity to preserve the Armenian language and learn about Armenian culture and history.
As the School’s teachers mentioned, the key goal is to teach Armenian children of Spain the Armenian language so that they don’t forget their roots, as well as Armenian language and literature.
The School will also offer Armenian music and painting lessons, as well as Armenian dance lessons, history courses and lessons on the history of the Armenian Church.

The young and devoted teachers introduced the schoolchildren and their parents to the main provisions and principles of the School and assured that they would do everything possible to make the lessons interesting and effective. The School’s administration will also hold various events, meetings, gatherings and field trips.

The Armenia Home Cultural Union of Madrid expresses its special gratitude to the RA Ministry of Diaspora for providing books and textbooks and contributing to activities aimed at preserving the Armenian identity abroad.

The Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in the Kingdom of Spain and the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church of Madrid, have made a great contribution to the establishment of the school.

The source details that thirteen Armenian children have already attended their first lesson.

German school in Istanbul cancels Christmas celebrations.

December 19, 2016 By administrator

Twitter Ulf Poschardt @ulfposh

A German-funded school in Istanbul has told teachers they cannot even talk about Christmas in class. Berlin has expressed outrage as the school is financed with public funds.

Berlin expressed its dismay on Sunday that a German high school in Istanbul had canceled its Christmas celebrations.

“We do not understand the surprising decision of the leadership at Istanbul Lisesi,” said the foreign ministry. “It is a great pity that the good tradition of the intercultural exchange in the pre-Christmas period was suspended at a school with a long history of German-Turkish” friendship, the government said.

The elite high school was founded more than a century ago, employs around 35 German teachers and is co-financed by German public funds. Each December, the school has a small celebration for Christmas and teaches pupils about the holiday.

One week after the school’s choir was prevented from singing at the German consulate in Istanbul, they reportedly canceled the festivities.

https://twitter.com/ulfposh/status/810533166234615808

According to an email seen by German news agency DPA, the teachers cannot even mention Christmas inside their classroom.

“The topic of Christmas traditions and celebrations will not be discussed, taught or sung about, effective immediately, according to the notice by the Turkish management,” the head of school’s German department reportedly wrote.

No advent calendars

Responding to the protests from Berlin, the school management denied that they banned celebrating Christmas.

However, they said that German teacher have recently been “talking about Christmas and Christianity in a way that was not foreseen by the curriculum.”

Several German teachers confirmed to the “Spiegel” magazine that they were instructed to forgo Christmas songs and traditions. The school also wanted them to remove advent calendars from school premises, they said.

According to the magazine, the teachers requested anonymity as the staff is forbidden from talking to the media.

German newspaper “Die Welt” put its own spin on the situation, depicting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the fiendish green Grinch famous in Dr. Seuss’ children’s tale for stealing Christmas.

Armenia, Dilijan listed among UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities

October 11, 2016 By administrator

unesco-diligan United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included the Armenian city of Dilijan among its Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC), the organization said in a statement.

Dilijan thus joins a dynamic network of cities worldwide that support and accelerate the practice of lifelong learning in the world’s communities, while promoting policy dialogue and peer learning among member cities through forged links and fostered partnerships that promote the progress of the learning cities, says a press release by the organization.

“It is a great honor for all Dilijan residents to receive such a coveted recognition from UNESCO as Dilijan continues to offer pioneering educational programs for preparing our citizens for the 21st century learning,” said Dilijan Community Center Program Director, Rubina Ter-Martirosyan who was instrumental in Dilijan’s selection as a GNLC member.

“Dilijan has become the designated site for such local and international learning centers as UWC Dilijan College, Central Bank of Armenia’s Training and Research Center, American University of Armenia, Tumo Center for Creative Technologies, the Dilijan Community Center as well as many artistic venues. ALl this culminated in the launch of the first Dilijan Arts Observatory this year,” Dilijan Mayor, Armen Santrosyan added.

Arne Carlsen, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, commended Dilijan’s “vision, planning and implementation of the learning city concept” in a letter of recognition and expressed eagerness to learn about Dilijan’s future developments.

Veronika Zonabend, co-founder of UWC Dilijan and the Dilijan Development Foundation which supports Dilijan Community Center and other regional projects, stated: “The goal of our foundation is to return to Dilijan its fame and further develop it into an educational, cultural and recreational regional hub. And this international recognition is an important step towards this goal.”

Inclusion in the Network will help Dilijan achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education while promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all its citizens. Additionally, Dilijan will be listed amongst other world cities recognized as a UNESCO GNLC.

Gagik Adibekyan, co-founder of the Dilijan Development Foundation and founding-partner of UWC Dilijan College stated, “We live in a complex, fast changing world, in which the competitiveness and economic growth of the country depend heavily on the quality of education. I am certain that Dilijan’s entry into the Global Network of Learning Cities will contribute to solving the important task of turning Dilijan into the educational hub of Armenia.”

Currently, there are more than 1,000 cities and communities worldwide that have become or are in the process of becoming learning/educating cities. These cities benefit from participating in international policy dialogue, action research, capacity building and peer learning, and effectively using learning city approaches to promote lifelong learning for their citizens. UNESCO established the Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) to encourage the growth of learning cities, accelerating the practice of lifelong learning in the world’s metropolitan areas.

Toronto Armenian community renovates school in Karabakh

September 15, 2016 By administrator

karabakh-school With the support of its Toronto affiliate, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is implementing a number of renovations at the secondary school of Mataghis, a community in Artsakh’s (Nagorno Karabakh) Martakert region.

The three-story campus was built in 2005-2006 with the financial support of Toronto’s Armenian community.

“During a donor visit to the school, our delegation realized that the campus needed a makeover,” said Migirdic Migirdician, chairman of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s Toronto affiliate.

“The renovations are nearing completion, and have not disrupted the educational process.”

Within the framework of the project, the school’s roof and restrooms have been repaired and upgraded, doors and windows have been replaced, and granite flooring has been installed throughout the hallways and the auditorium. The exterior of the campus has also been refreshed.

“To our community, these renovations are much more than a routine series of repairs,” said Gegham Aghajanyan, the school’s young principal. “Every time I remember the small building where I went to school, the same building that now houses our kindergarten, I delight in the knowledge that these renovations are a wonderful gift to our students.”