President welcomes Armenian schoolchildren boasting high academic record and successful performance in international Olympiads

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Armenian schoolchildren who won gold medals for best academic achievement in 2013-2014, as well as the winners of international Olympiads in 2014, including the Kangaroo international mathematical competition, 19 students altogether.

During the already traditional meeting with the President, they received awards, medals, certificates and gifts on the part of the President of Armenia. Armenian schoolchildren took part in six international Olympiads in 2014 and won 19 medals - 9 silver and 10 bronze medals.

A total of 43,827 students from all over Armenia and 1040 schools of Artsakh attended this year the Kangaroo international mathematical competition, held for the sixth consecutive year through the efforts of AYB educational foundation in Armenia and the NKR Education Ministry in Artsakh.

According to the organizers, the number of award-winners rose to 1469 in 2014, of which 617 excelled with best performance. There were 8 contest winners in 2014, including 4 from Yerevan, 3 from Lori and 1 from Shirak. Complimenting the awardees, President Serzh Sargsyan wished them every success and answered their questions.

In his welcoming speech, the President said to be proud of the participants and graduates, boasting no less than their parents and teachers as he was sure that they are the future of our country.

Making a point of our students’ continued achievements, Serzh Sargsyan urged them to keep on striving for knowledge, and come to new achievements through hard work and sustained commitment.

“This is your first-ever success; all of you need to realize that to a lot of effort has to be made ahead. In the modern world, there is no such profession calling for less training and effort. Everyone is being re-trained today - doctors, academicians and others – because we live in a fast-evolving world.

Knowledge has no boundaries: the more people study, the better they realize how little they know. This is quite an important factor. Addressing our graduates who left school with honors and diplomas, I would like to tell them that they have set the bar too high and are no longer entitled to take a step back. This is your first major success, and it should be continued,” the President said.

As to Kangaroo winners, Serzh Sargsyan wished they could uphold with a greater sense of honor and responsibility the marathon that was launched by the elder generation. Serzh Sargsyan expressed confidence that those attending the meeting might come to the Presidency in quite another status a few years later.

“Dear winners of international Olympiads, you are either a wonder or kind of a miracle. The whole nation and I are proud of you. Over the past few days, I have had repeatedly stated my pride and my joy in public. You my know, that when two years ago your elders were able to win 16 medals in international Olympiads, many thought it could not have happened except by accident, and some even kept insisting that either our chess team’s victory in the World Chess Olympiad was a mere accident.

Then life showed that it was no coincidence. And now, as you have brought in 19 medals from international Olympiads, I consider you to be true heroes and I am proud to say that it is far more than the prizes won by our immediate neighbors, and almost as many as the ones won by 20-30 times larger nations. How can I not to be proud?

Dear children, dear youth,

It is indeed gratifying and very important that you manage to find a solution to any problem, it is crucial that each of you has the ability of independent thinking of your own.

One of our artists used to say that in order to have a statesman’s mentality; one must have at least his own way of thinking. I am sure that your independent thinking will grow into a sense of civic responsibility. Wishing you every success, I would like to emphasize once again that you are a source of great pride, and we are proud of you all,” Serzh Sargsyan concluded.