National Program for Educational Excellence

Program
Description

In 2014, the Ayb Educational Foundation, in collaboration with Cambridge Assessment International Education (England) and the Institute of Education (IoE) at University College London (UCL), embarked on a ten-year extensive educational initiative, the National Program for Educational Excellence (NPEE). It aimed at creating an internationally competitive alternative educational program for schools in Armenia and create a community of teachers armed with world’s best practice and skills, which is the key component in increasing the competitiveness of the general education system and ensuring long-term development and global progress of education in our country.

NPEE is the Ayb Educational Foundation’s initiative. The program was implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia. The program was financed by the Armenian government and the Ayb Educational Foundation.

As part of NPEE, Ayb carried out long-term and comprehensive training for teachers with the help of experts from international partner organizations. As was planned, already trained and certified teachers in their turn became experts in training hundreds of other teachers.

What Problem We Solve

The improvement of the general education system is a global and complex problem that requires a comprehensive approach. Competitiveness, long-term development and overall progress of the educational system depend on the improvement of each component of the system. These components include teaching methodology, curricula, textbooks and their development methodology, evaluation of teacher performance, student assessment methods, and so on. At the same time, a wide range of possibilities for teachers' professional growth, competitive salary, formation of public demand and rise of awareness of teachers’ importance in society are crucial factors for improving the entire system of primary and secondary education in Armenia.

NPEE Goals

Directing the best human resource to schools; making teaching an honorable profession, and ensuring appropriate and competitive remuneration
Forming a high-quality teaching community: establishing a community of teachers armed with globally competitive teaching practice and knowledge
Introducing a new alternative educational platform at schools
Supporting and promoting the institutional development of schools: integrating the Araratian Baccalaureate (AB) into all high schools of Armenia and Artsakh, thereby offering any student the opportunity to study according to Ayb’s educational technologies and methodologies for free

How We Do It

The main tool for the implementation of the NPEE program is Araratian Baccalaureate (AB).

AB is a globally competitive and rigorous educational platform designed for modern public and private schools. AB's program combines a number of basic and elective subjects, including math, science, history, social sciences, languages, and arts. For about eight years before receiving its name, Araratian Baccalaureate, each element of the program was carefully elaborated, tested and improved as part of all Ayb projects and particularly Ayb School.

On December 29, 2015, Minister of Education and Science of Armenia signed a decree (N 1073), which officially recognized Araratian Baccalaureate as an alternative school program in Armenia. This means that, hereafter, in our country two Armenian-language school programs are officially approved and recognized at the same time: the state one and the alternative one—Araratian Baccalaureate.

AB set a goal to be spread across the country through the NPEE program, granting Armenian students the opportunity to study according to Ayb’s educational programs and methodologies for free.

What Results We Have

In the first preparatory phase (2014-2016) of NPEE, the Araratian Baccalaureate (AB) curriculum was further improved as an Armenian-language and internationally-recognized educational platform of excellence.

In order to improve the AB syllabi, the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) conducted the international benchmarking of the AB syllabi, comparing them with other international platforms of excellence, and found the AB syllabi mostly competitive and comparable to similar leading international programs (International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, GCE A Level), and in some cases, even exceeding them.
At the same time, with the University College London (UCL) Institute of Education, NPEE developed its teacher training and certification programs, the action plan and the educational materials according to which all NPEE teachers will be trained.

In NPEE’s second phase (2017-2019), AB was going to be introduced in one class at a time in schools that:

are located in regions of Armenia and Stepanakert,
are non-specialized schools that offer the high school program (separately functioning high schools, secondary schools, colleges, educational complexes).

In the third phase (2020-2023) of NPEE, AB was to be rolled out to all high schools in Armenia and Artsakh, with at least one class in each school.

Thanks to NPEE, Armenia could have its own unique and important place in the global educational arena. Studies carried out globally have shown that there is no internationally competitive educational model that is superior to others or could replace national programs. Instead, each country develops its own education system anchored on the best international experiences, adapting and changing them in accordance with its specific needs and conditions.

Unfortunately, in 2018, the RA Ministry of Education and Science without any substantiation terminated the investments for the Araratian Baccalaureate in the RA public schools, as a result of which thousands of students in the marzes of Armenia and Artsakh were deprived of the opportunity to study free of charge in accordance with the highest international standards, without having an adequate alternative.

And despite the fact that the Ayb Educational Foundation has a signed memorandum with the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, according to which the parties confirm that they will try to make efforts to maintain the continuity and international recognition of the program, today AB operates only in Ayb School.