Armenia to Reform its Curriculum Development and Teacher Education, Supported by Estonia

Armenia is keenly interested in the education models and practices that work well in Estonia. Last week, a delegation from the Ministry of Education and the Children of Armenia Fund visited Estonia to become acquainted with the best practices in policy-making, school management, and digital transformation in education, as well as how formal and non-formal education play a role in citizen’s education.

Armenia is launching a reform of educational content, both through curriculum development and the education and training of its teachers. To meet their latter goal, Armenian counterparts are interested in learning from the example of Estonia. The Estonian-Armenian partnership will collaborate on the professional development of teachers, including integrating digital pedagogy into teaching activities.

“Visiting Estonian educational institutions and learning about the student-centred teaching – the driver of all education innovation – that happens here made a remarkable impression on our guests,” commented Kristel Rillo, Programme Manager for Education and Entrepreneurship at the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV).

“It is gratifying to know that this visit from Armenian officials was inspired by our long-lasting and fruitful education collaboration with Georgia. Our guests were very interested in the results that our cooperation with Georgia has accomplished,” Kristel Rillo added.

“We had an intensive and all-encompassing program, allowing us to better comprehend the Estonian education system as a whole, which left us impressed with the seriousness of decades-long collective effort and visible results,” commented Shahane Halajyanm, Education Manager of the SMART Center by the Children of Armenia Fund. “We hope to establish an effective framework for the Armenia-Estonia collaboration in the future.

Estonia’s development cooperation with Armenia began in 2001, and Armenia is one of the eight core partner countries of Estonian development cooperation. This includes the transfer of expertise and financial assistance to Armenia, as well as joint knowledge building and the co-creation of good practices.