Cambridge interested in contributing to Armenian education reforms

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Steve King, Head of Education Reform, Europe & Central Asia at Cambridge Partnership for Education has praised the Armenian government’s reforms in education and expressed hope that Cambridge can also have its contribution in the process.

Cambridge Partnership for Education aims to improve education systems across the globe through partnerships with various governments

King spoke with Armenpress about the education trends in the world, Armenia’s possible role in it, cooperation between the Armenian government and Cambridge university and other issues.

Mr. King, you are Head of Europe, Central Asia, Education Reform at the Cambridge Partnership for Education and this team is focused on designing, developing and implementing education transformation programs with governments worldwide. You have been working in Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Mongolia as well as in Georgia. Having such experience, what can you say about current educational trends in the world?

Thank you for that very good question. So, worldwide I see a lot of current movement and changes coming in education. Most of all through the ways in which we are now adapting the teaching and learning of many subjects towards how students can demonstrate their competence and how we can teach the skills that make us unique as humans. I also see that a lot of countries are looking to develop their early childhood education, their vocational education, their English language teaching, but also they are trying to make it so that their curriculum, their teaching, their learning materials and their examinations are all in alignment and cohesive with each other. That's really important and we see that a lot throughout the world. 

So, how do you see the role of Armenia in it? 

Well, in Armenia there are lots of great things that have happened over the last 10 years or so. We have a really fantastic partnership with the Ayb Foundation. They have worked extremely well to create the Araratian Baccalaureate and I think there are some ways in which the work of the Ayb Foundation that has been done together with Cambridge can help to benefit the rest of the system. But I think Armenia has the same challenges everywhere. They are looking to develop an examination system that really measures the competence of students and that's one challenge that we particularly would like to address as well.

The Government of Republic of Armenia has been talking about reforms which are needed to develop the field of education. Are you familiar with those reforms and what would you advice the Government of Armenia in this regard?

Yes, I'm familiar with those reforms and I know that there is a really great strategy actually towards the year 2030. And I know that they are planning to have a lot of really good interventions and investment into things like teaching and they've done some excellent work in developing teacher standards and teacher competency frameworks. I know that they've been doing some really great work with development partners such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank on the national curriculum standards and it's really great. I just think that in the next few years we need to continue this work. Cambridge can and we will contribute to it if that's appropriate for Armenia. But I think, again, it's about making sure that the curriculum, the learning materials, the teachers and the examination system is all in alignment with each other. That would be the biggest piece of advice I have for Armenia.

Considering the fact that you have been working with the Governments of different countries in the educational area, are there any plans to be engaged in such cooperation with the Armenian educational sector in the near future?

Yes, I hope so. We have some exploratory and preliminary dialogue with the ministry here in Yerevan and we have developed or we're establishing a partnership with the Ayb Foundation and the Teach for Armenia organization. And I had a conversation with the British Council. So we have some early discussions about what we can do and we're going to be talking about assessment, about how we can potentially help to develop the skills of Armenian publishing houses to create better textbooks. And we'll be talking about teacher training and also about developing curriculum as well.

How would you assess Armenia’s educational system and country’s potential in that field?

I think the country's potential is limitless. Any country has its people as its biggest resource. And from what I see of the Armenian people and the people that I know in Armenia is that they are smart, they work incredibly hard, they love their country and they want it to succeed. And if you've got that as your biggest resource and you work hard to develop that, you can't fail. And so I think the best and biggest resource Armenia has got is the people here. And they have an immense amount of talent and they are super smart and they work hard. That's a really, really good thing.

The Armenian government has initiated the project of Academic city. Are you familiar with it, what is your opinion about such initiative?

Yes, I've heard some things about the Academic City. And I think if the Armenian government is planning to invest in education, investment in education always produces results. So if there is money and resources going into improving education in any way that is a much better use of resource than all sorts of other things that they could do. So I would need to learn more about it. But I think in general, this huge focus on education and creating a city dedicated to education is a really good sign that Armenia is thinking about its education system and where to invest on it. So I haven't heard so much, but yes, I'm familiar with this project.

Mr. King, is there anything that you would like to add?

Yes, I think, like I said, the Armenia as a country has got limitless potential. It's a small country, but as I said, with the resources you've got and the intellectual resources that you've got, and the work that's been done to build up things like the Araratian Baccalaureate at the Ayb Foundation over the last 10 years, there's all sorts of potential to leverage that work that investment that's already been made to the benefit of every child in Armenia. And I hope that Cambridge can make a contribution to that.