The TUMO Center for Creative Technologies is planning on opening a branch in Javakhk. The current key objective is to select an adequate building for the Center. This is what General Director of TUMO Center for Creative Technologies Mary Lou Papazian announced during the first reporting session of the Support to Javakhk Foundation on November 15.

“The two buildings designed for the Center are dilapidated, and it will take a lot of effort to repair them. It will take about two years to repair the buildings and provide the necessary resources (adequate furniture, computers and other technological equipment),” Mary Lou Papazian said as she provided details.

The Center will be based in the city of Akhalkalak. TUMO Center for Creative Technologies will select an area that can later be expanded, if the number of learners exceeds 900. Students will be placed in different cohorts because it will be impossible to admit everyone.

Mary Lou Papazian said the Center will have all the possible conditions for making it be accessible to children from not only Akhalkalak, but also the villages of the region. They will be provided with means of transportation and other accommodations. The Center will be open for everyone between the ages of 12 and 18, without any exceptions.

“Our mission is to train individuals who will become competitive and self-confident and help them discover their potential to create. It is safe to say that the first two months are a period of capacity building when the newcomer is introduced to the environment and the conditions for learning and receives general knowledge. When the learners have their preferences, they choose a special direction and enhance their skills in the particular field,” Mary Lou Papazian said.

TUMO Center for Creative Technologies offers courses on drawing, communication skills, working with the camera, 3D modeling, programming and design. The Center has different methods of teaching, incLouding exercises, a course and design. The exercises are conducted in Armenian and English with the purpose of helping the students learn independently.

Each student has a Learning Plan to see the level of progress. The work of the entire group is overseen through a special computer program by professionals and specially selected experts who are both Armenian and non-Armenian.

TUMO Center for Creative Technologies was founded four years ago with the purpose of providing adolescents with an education that they don’t receive in school and providing them with the opportunity to discover their hidden skills that they hadn’t discovered yet. To turn that idea into a reality, Centers have been opened in Yerevan, Gyumri, Dilijan and Stepanakert, and Javakhk will also be a part of this.

“Our goal is not to create jobs, but future jobs. By giving jobs to 10 people in Javakhk, we won’t have done a lot. By inviting the best experts to Javakhk, we will help the children a lot,”  Mary Lou Papazian explained.

Armine Berakchyan

Javakhk Info