President receives RF Minister of Education and Science

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Olga Vasileva.

Welcoming the guest, the President of Armenia noted that humanitarian cooperation, including education and science, are high on the agenda of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership. Serzh Sargsyan expressed the hope that the Minister’s visit would give new impetus to bilateral cooperation. “As elsewhere in the world, we, too, attach great importance to the development of the educational system in Armenia, and we have set the task of training highly qualified professionals in the system of education. Of course, there are many problems here, but we are trying to solve them often in close cooperation with our friends and partners,” President Sargsyan said at the meeting with the Russian Minister of Education and Science.

Minister Olga Vasileva noted that the Armenian-Russian cooperation in education, science and culture has deep historical roots, so it is much easier to develop and expand it on a solid basis. The Russian Minister provided information on the results of the discussion held with her Armenian counterpart, stressing that an agreement had been reached to expand cooperation and exchange experience in the engineering and technical fields in addition to humanitarian education.

In this context, Minister Vasileva spoke with enthusiasm about the teaching of chess as a mandatory subject in Armenia’s secondary schools, which may enhance the level of math knowledge among Armenian schoolchildren considerably, as evidenced by their recent achievements in International Mathematical Olympiads. The Russian Minister of Education and Science said she will do everything possible to apply this practice in Russia’s general schools.

The interlocutors exchanged views on cooperation programs in the field of education and science, exchange of know-how, preparation of highly qualified specialists, etc.