On the occasion of the 102^nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Director of the Armenian School of Kuwait, Dr. Nerses Sarkisian visited Abu Dhabi where he participated in the Armenian Genocide commemoration event and delivered a lecture. In his lecture, he touched upon the history of the Armenian Cause, the process of recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the current interior political situation in Turkey, the future actions of the Republic of Armenia for recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the need for the homeland’s empowerment in detail.

At the end of the event, Nerses Sarkisian talked about the Armenian School of Kuwait in an interview with irates.am. Established in 1961, the Armenian School of Kuwait is one of the best schools in the Gulf countries. The alumni are accepted to universities in not only Arab countries, but also in Armenia. The School consists of a preschool, middle school and secondary school. In fact, the latter prepares schoolchildren to get accepted to a university to pursue their studies for Bachelor of Arts.

This year, the Armenian School of Kuwait has 398 students. Let us emphasize the fact that the school only has Armenian students who receive high-quality education provided by 56 Armenian and foreign teachers. For over half a century, the School has been and still is the spirit of the Armenian community and the apologist for preservation of the Armenian identity. During their visits to Kuwait, officials, as well as political and cultural figures of Armenia and Artsakh never miss the opportunity to visit the Armenian School of Kuwait. When asked if the Armenian parents of the community gave preference to the Armenian School of Kuwait or other schools, Nerses Sarkisian said most of the members of the community preferred to send their children to the Armenian School of Kuwait. However, there are also parents who send their children to British and American schools, and the reason why is because the children who receive their education at those schools don’t face any hardships when it comes to taking admissions exams to get accepted to foreign universities providing instruction in English. Sarkisian added the following: “It’s not about leaving the Armenian environment.” He also stated that the Armenian School of Kuwait needed to take action to change the teaching criteria and adapt them to the common criteria. He assured that parents wouldn’t take their children to other schools after those changes were made.

The level of an educational institution is determined by highly qualified teachers with professional education, and the Armenian School of Kuwait also has such teachers. “We need to integrate certain standards. Each teacher must have a certificate and take a special exam.” Among other subjects, the School also offers Armenian language courses and pays a lot of attention to those courses. It was interesting to know the role that Eastern Armenian plays in the School’s system of education and whether Armenia’s teachers could teach at the School or not. “Teaching in Eastern Armenian is a little difficult because our school is an Armenian school in the Diaspora, and our mission is to preserve Western Armenian. Our grammar and the subjects are in Western Armenian. Although we also provide our students with knowledge about Eastern Armenian writers, the principle is to teach in Western Armenian. If we look at it more closely, this is not contradicting. Any Armenian specialists from Armenia can come and teach subjects.” He noted that gymnastics teacher Arthur Mirzoyan was from Armenia (one of the football players of Armenia’s national football team), and his wife, who is a nurse, will also be working at the School soon.

During the interview, we also talked about the issue of applying new teaching methods. Nerses Sarkisian said the School was trying to do its best to conduct interactive lessons so that the lessons could spark interest among children and was trying to link the students to nature and the surrounding environment. As an example, he recalled the lesson on Hovhannes Aivazovsky held at the coast of the sea. The lesson provided the children with the opportunity to see the sea that the painter had portrayed and feel the air.

As is known, schools today can’t provide education through age-old methods and are trying to create an environment for creativity and cooperation for both the student and the teacher. Schools constantly need to search and work hard to maintain the quality and reputation. Cooperation with other schools and exchanges of experiences are also important. Irates.am asked if the Armenian School of Kuwait was collaborating with Armenian schools in the Diaspora. “We are not directly collaborating with a network of schools. There is not even a system that can allow us to have relations with the schools of other communities. However, if, for instance, we want to modify a textbook, we start interacting with other communities and collaborate with the Ministry of Diaspora.” As far as the Ministry of Diaspora is concerned, the School actively participates in the pan-Armenian programs and projects organized by the Ministry. For instance, the School participated in the “My Sweet Language” essay contest dedicated to International Mother Language Day. In fact, the Ministry of Diaspora granted a certificate of appreciation to the School for its active participation in the contest. Nerses Sarkisian also added that the School also participates in similar events organized by the Catholicosate of Cilicia.

Hamaspyur Grigoryan

Special correspondent for irates.am in the UAE