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A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia and the Goethe-Institut Armenien, the Armenian branch of the Goethe-Institut.
Under the memorandum, the Goethe-Institut will support the development of the German language in Armenia, as well as the introduction of German experience in the process of developing unified tests for assessing knowledge of the Armenian language.
The document was signed by Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia Artur Martirosyan and Director of the Goethe-Institut Armenia Dr. Jan-Tage Kühling, the ministry said in a press release.
The event was also attended by Siranush Dvoyan, Chair of the Language Committee of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia.
Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Artur Martirosyan welcomed the signing of the memorandum, highly appreciating the activities of the Goethe-Institut in Armenia and the expansion of German cultural and educational presence.
Reaffirming the transformation of the Goethe Center into the Goethe-Institut, he emphasized the importance of the institute’s activities in Armenia in terms of the development of the German language and culture, as well as strengthening Armenia-EU relations in the cultural sphere. According to the Deputy Minister, the Goethe-Institut currently plays the role of coordinating the cultural wings of diplomatic missions of European countries in Armenia and is actively cooperating with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports in developing Armenia-EU cultural ties.
Artur Martirosyan particularly emphasized the Goethe-Institut’s contribution to the creation of a unified system for assessing knowledge of the Armenian language corresponding to levels A1 to C2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
“This is a very important goal for us: based on the experience of various European languages, we are currently creating a unified assessment system, and with the support of the Goethe-Institut, Germany’s advanced experience will be studied,” Artur Martirosyan said.
According to him, the importance of creating such a system is difficult to overestimate, considering Armenia’s large diaspora, ambitions to attract foreign students, as well as the need for measurable and comparable assessment of language proficiency in migration policy and other areas.
According to Artur Martirosyan, another important area of cooperation is youth: the initiatives of the Goethe-Institut contribute to reforms in individual areas, particularly the youth sector, and contribute to aligning them with European standards.
As part of cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Goethe-Institut will organize training courses for German language teachers for professional development and improvement. The parties intend to regularly conduct joint needs assessments, coordinate planned activities and training proposals, as well as provide mutual support in public awareness activities to disseminate information about professional training opportunities.