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On July 28, the “Reading Horizons” conference brought together teaching staff from 10 schools of Lori region, who have been included in the “Help Me Read” program, as well as teachers, teacher assistants, principals, employees of local pedagogical and psychological public centers, and specialists concerned about reading teaching and guests from rural and urban regions of Armenia.
Quantitative and qualitative results of the “Help Me Read” program were presented. The panel discussion was attended by Korioun Khachadourian, the Executive Director of Hovnanian Family Foundation, Tatevik Davtyan, Head of Cooperation Department of the EU Armenia Delegation, Alvard Poghosyan, UNICEF’s Educational Programs Lead, Lilit Mnatsakanyan, Director of the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture and Sciences’ Republican Pedagogical Psychological Center, Mher Davtyan, the director of NorArar Education NGO and , the principal of Haghpat Secondary School, Hasmik Adamyan.
During the panel discussion, reading and literacy issues were addressed both globally and locally, which manifests in both formal and non-formal education contexts, resulting in dropouts from schools, lack of motivation to study, and self-confidence issues, etc. However, the consequences of the literacy problems are even greater in the long run, because if children are not literate, they cannot fully realize their potential and/or their rights to further education.
It is important to note that access to schooling is not the same as learning and we should all be open to talking about existing problems, and jointly finding more systemic ways to solve the problem. Only in this case, we will be able to make the transition from mere access to education to qualitative change.
In this regard, Korioun Khachadourian, the Executive Director of Hovnanian Family Foundation mentioned: “We are very happy and proud to have helped such a program, “Help Me Read” and such an organization. Seeing what results they have achieved, seeing also how they report the results, I really want to congratulate them, because you will meet few organizations that are able to communicate transparently and consistently and competently about the work they are doing. Also, you will rarely meet organizations that not only present their successes in a beautiful way, but also talk about their challenges.
…about our today’s program (Help Me Read), I think we will all agree that it deserves more than remaining a program, that is, it should go to the institutional level, a systemic change, and for that I also congratulate you (NorArar), that you are already moving from the program to a more permanent phase.”
The participants of the conference had the opportunity to emphasize the role of reading, especially among children of early childhood age, by listening to Alvard Poghosyan from UNICEF Armenia. The speakers of the simultaneous sessions addressed questions related to the theory and practice of reading. The conference concluded with the presentation of opportunities for further engagement in NorArar projects. The participants addressed their questions and suggestions.