The Sister Schools Program of the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia, the purpose of which is to establish a bridge of friendship between Armenian schools of Armenia and the Diaspora, is becoming more and more popular. Every year, more and more Armenian schools of Armenia and the Diaspora express the desire to work together, help each other and collaborate in order to preserve the Armenian identity and provide Armenian children with an Armenian education and upbringing.

In 2017, it was envisaged to establish cooperation between Sakharov School #69 of Yerevan (Principal Melyan Mariana) and Mesrop Mashtots Armenian School of Domodedovo, Siamanto Armenian School #162 of Yerevan (Principal Lilia Poghosyan) and the Armenian one-day school of Ararat Armenian Association of Spain, and Hovhannes Poghosyan Armenian School #82 (Principal Lilit Aslanyan) and the Armenian one-day school of the Swedish city of Uppsala within the scope of the Sister Schools Program.

On July 27, the schools concluded memoranda during a solemn ceremony held at Hovhannes Poghosyan Armenian School #82. Among the participants were Head of the Division for Scientific and Educational Programs of the Department for All-Armenian Programs at the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia Sirvard Hambaryan; employee of the Department of General Education at Yerevan Municipality Anahit Ghazaryan, as well as the schools’ teachers and principals. Within the scope of the partnership established through the memoranda, the schools will carry out training programs, cultural and educational programs, teacher training programs, Armenian language learning programs and native studies programs, events, exchange information, organize reciprocal visits and ensure their participation in the educational programs organized by the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia.

During the ceremony, the speakers noted that the cooperation will provide the schools with new opportunities to get to know each other, as well as help solve the problems with teaching of the Armenian language and providing an Armenian upbringing, organize exchange of experiences between teachers and distance learning programs.

The principals of the sister schools expressed words of gratitude to the Ministry of Diaspora and Yerevan Municipality for the programs for support to the solution to the educational issues facing Armenian communities of the Diaspora.

Congratulating the schools on the establishment of sister relations, Head of the Division for Scientific and Educational Programs of the Department for All-Armenian Programs at the RA Ministry of Diaspora Sirvard Hambaryan voiced hope that the establishment of cooperation between the Armenian schools named after great Armenians in Yerevan and the Armenian one-day schools based in Moscow, Sweden and Spain will surely foster the development of Armenian education and upbringing at the schools.