The “Surp Mesrop Mashtots” Armenian Sunday School of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Almelo and Yerevan’s Khachatur Abovyan Primary School N 2 have signed an agreement on cooperation.

Armenian language teacher of the “Surp Mesrop Mashtots” Armenian Sunday School Lala Shahinyan and Principal of Khachatur Abovyan Primary School N 2 of Yerevan Iren Hakobyan talked about the agreement during an interview with “Hayern Aysor”.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mrs. Shahinyan, could you please tell us about the “Surp Mesrop Mashtots” Armenian Sunday School of Almelo?

Lala Shahinyan: The school has been around for a decade. The focus is on teaching Armenian children the native language. The administration’s major goal is to provide them with an Armenian upbringing, and a part of that is fluency of the native language. We do everything we can to make sure they don’t forget the language. In higher grades the children also learn about Armenian history and the Armenian Church. In the Netherlands it’s safe to say we are in a constant struggle to enroll as many children as possible. We make public announcements, visit families and talk to parents so that they bring their children to our school. I must say that the school board and spiritual pastor, Priest Mashtots Baghdasaryan make great contributions to that. The priest also visits families and preaches to send their children to the Armenian school in order to help them preserve the Armenian identity. Thanks to their combined efforts, the school has 200 students in six classrooms. We have named the classrooms after different Armenian heroes, including Sasuntsi Davit, Tigran Mets and others. With this we also want to introduce them to the history of the Armenian people and make them remember those names.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mrs. Hakobyan, who did you come up with the idea of collaborating? What are the reciprocal obligations in the signed agreement?

Y. H.: The agreement was signed this past summer. It was a great honor for us to receive the offer from the RA Ministry of Diaspora and collaborate with the “Surp Mesrop Mashtots” Armenian Sunday School of Almelo. Today, our schools are already considered sister schools.

The agreement envisages implementation of instructional and educational programs that will include exchanges of experiences at Khachatur Abovyan Primary School N 2. In addition, information about culture and education will be transferred in the scope of the Armenia-Diaspora partnership. Later, students and teachers of both schools will pay reciprocal visits, and programs are being developed for that.

I attach importance to the efforts being made to hold courses on Armenian language, literature, history and culture since there is a great need for that in the Armenian Diaspora. The agreement also includes points that require teacher training via online telecommunication, as well as open distance lessons, theme-based teleconferences and roundtable discussions. Students will also communicate online. We’ve already provided our sister school with methodological manuals, notebooks and scenarios for organizing the events. We have to ensure the students’ active participation in the programs carried out by the RA Ministry of Diaspora such as the “Ari Tun” Program, the “Diaspora” Summer School Program and other programs.

In general, I think this collaboration is helpful and necessary. It’s our duty to extend a helping hand to our compatriots, as well as promote all of their events for preservation of the Armenian identity. The RA Ministry of Diaspora plays an indisputable role in all this.

As I see the heartfelt attitude of this ministry towards the issue of preservation of the Armenian identity, I get motivated and have the desire to participate. I’ve already hosted seven Diaspora Armenian children in the scope of the “Ari Tun” Program throughout the years. I’ve established very close ties with them and we’ve been keeping in touch to this day.

I’m very pleased with the fact that the collaboration with the “Surp Mesrop Mashtots” Armenian Sunday School of Almelo was a success and is in progress.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mrs. Shahinyan, is there anything you would like to add?

L. S.: I must say that prior to the signign of the agreement, we had heard many good things about the Khachatur Abovyan Primary School N 2 in Yerevan. We knew that it was a historic school where Khachatur Abovyan had been the inspector of the school during the early years. When I came to the school and saw the warm relations between the teacher, the principal and the students, I became convinced of that. Now, I can certainly say that we have a lot to learn from this school. We thank the RA Ministry of Diaspora, particularly RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan for her attention. We’ve always felt that she is generous.

When we received the 2^nd Prize “For notable contribution to preservation of the Armenian identity” at the annual awards organized by the RA Ministry of Diaspora, the World Armenian Congress and the Union of Armenians of Russia in 2012, we became very motivated and started continuing our efforts with positive energy.

In closing, I’d like to share an interesting story. After learning the Armenian language, one of our students stopped attending the Armenian language courses. Later, he came to Armenia to participate in the “Ari Tun” Program. Upon his return to Almelo, he felt very patriotic and decided to continue the Armenian language lessons and brought his three Armenian friends to learn the language. I’m very impressed with this story…

By Gevorg Chichyan