President Serzh Sargsyan takes part in opening of Dilijan International School

President Serzh Sargsyan, accompanied by the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church, President Tomislav Nikolic of the Serbian Republic having arrived in the Republic of Armenia on an official visit, President Bako Sahakyan of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and numerous other guests having arrived in Armenia to participate in the opening of the school, today took part in the opening of Dilijan International School (http://www.dilijanschool.org/en/home).

By RA presidential decrees, a group of people who have brought the school project to life were awarded medals of the Republic of Armenia for their outstanding contribution to building and launching Dilijan International School, an education complex which corresponds to international standards, in the Republic of Armenia, promotion of the education sphere in the Republic of Armenia and international scientific-educational cooperation, their significant contribution to implementing educational projects and major personal contribution to the construction works of Dilijan International School. At the event, the Armenian President congratulated the awardees and handed them the RA state decorations.

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Remarks by President Serzh Sargsyan at the opening ceremony of Dilijan International School

Dear friends and guests,

Today is a festive and happy day for all of us. This event signals the official opening of Dilijan College, a part of the education network the United World Colleges, which Armenians commonly refer to as Dilijan International School.

Looking all around, I am thinking how lucky these children are to study here. Personally, this is, indeed, a great and important event. And not only for the reason that it is one of the most extensive international investment projects implemented in Armenia in recent years. When Ruben talked to me about this project for the first time, he immediately infected me with the power of his own belief in the vital necessity of this project. I think very few of the people gathered here know that the launch of the project was not so successful. More correctly, it could have seemed to be unsuccessful, but we have a good team who was sure of the need for this school and was able to help Ruben and his friends clear up doubts about our desire.

This is a project which otherwise could have been misunderstood: a big investment pursuing no goal of receiving a profit. Unfortunately, in our century of mercantilism people are often obsessed with big amounts of money and a wild passion to get a profit.

However, to our great joy, neither Ruben nor Veronica and other sponsors are not persons of that kind. And the fact that the proposal of this project coincided with our strategic vision for the future of Armenia is extremely important.

We are not going to compete with anybody in exploiting natural resources and our own lithosphere. The irreparable exhaustion of the lithosphere is not an endless process, and its opportunities are limited. We have chosen another path: we are going to develop our human capital by making use of all the creative opportunities of mankind. The learning fervor, creative talent and business success of Armenians have always enraptured people all over the world. And if any natural resource is to be inevitably exhausted, this quality of humanity is not subjected to such risk.

Yes, we present ourselves to the world not through oil, gas and caviar, but through the Matenadaran, the Tumo Centers, Dilijan International School and our achievements in the IT sphere. And that is the reason that the future will be ours. We will feel more confident in the future.

Internationality is the other vital feature of this school. Our history and present prove that in order to discover talented Armenians we need a comprehensive global context. Armenia is too small for Armenians. We have never been and won’t be enclosed within our own borders. We should be open to the world permanently adopting, localizing and developing every progressive innovation.

I am indeed delighted to see a very good team of leading international experts gathered at Dilijan International School. It will not only enrich the pupils of this school, but also will open up a new door of opportunities for our country. The whole ideology of the school propagates eternal and true values thus unifying students from various countries of the world under the same roof. That atmosphere of mutual understanding and solidarity is also of great value to us.

What I am going to tell you now can seem to be unreal or pretty strange to very many of you. I honestly wish that Azeri students would also study at this school and I am confident that day will come soon. I want that day to arrive as early as possible.

Dear friends,

This school has been made a reality through combining public and private efforts. And this is the best opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude to all those people who have been somehow engaged in the establishment of this school. This first of all refers to Ruben Vardanian and Veronica Zonabend, Gagik Adibekyan, Oleg Mkrtchyan, Vladimir Avetisyan and many more individuals wishing to stay anonymous. I am asking you to applaud them as well.

Ruben and Veronica, we are really grateful to you. We are grateful to all the people who, no matter financially, with kind words or in terms of inspiring you, have been involved in the establishment of this, I make bold to say, historic institution. And we are proud of you.

I congratulate all of us once again on the occasion of this wonderful day – the opening of the school wishing Dilijan International School a good journey.

And I would like to donate two very symbolic books to the school. These are the books which contain information about a large part of our historical monuments. These are the books of the exhibitions held in Louvre and Venice.

Thank you.