The issue of reading comprehension was first raised in the country’s parliament in 2022 by the current Education Minister Zhanna Andreasian, who was serving as a deputy minister at the time. She then described children’s inability to grasp simple texts despite their knowledge of the alphabet as “functional illiteracy.”
“It is when you seem to know letters and numbers, but it is useless knowledge because it is rote learning that does not lead to application, does not encourage thinking, and does not become a skill or ability,” Andreasian said.
According to educationalists, while many children who graduate from elementary school know how to add and divide numbers, they find it difficult to comprehend texts describing a mathematical problem or struggle with terminology in natural sciences.
Nearly 60 Armenian teachers and education officials recently participated in a training program on effective reading pedagogy and innovative teaching methods led by Estonia, a country with proven success in improving children’s functional literacy. The training sessions, organized by the Estonian Center for International Development (ESTDEV), took place in Armenia’s southern Syunik and northern Lori provinces in early June.
Lusine Balayan, who took part in the training program in Armenia and also visited Estonia for three days as part of the exchange program, highlighted crowded classrooms and a lack of technical equipment in schools as reasons for the problem. But above all, she pointed to a lack of full commitment on the part of many teachers.
“Do I, as a teacher, keep the class engaged for 45 minutes, or do I just spend the 45 minutes with the children, killing time? Every moment of that 45-minute lesson is important for the child and should be important for the teacher as well,” Balayan said.
She noted that the examples of good practice she observed in Estonian schools can and should also be applied in Armenia.
“I saw children holding reading materials, art displayed everywhere, and an appreciation for the work done by students. Everything contributed to a person’s value system. The country itself focuses on improving education through modern technology, but at its core, I saw a commitment to art, literature, and reading,” Balayan said.
Education expert Vano Karapetian welcomed the exchange of experience between Armenia and Estonia, which he believes could yield positive results, but he added that only time will tell whether the application of foreign practices in Armenia’s educational system will be successful.
“For the past 30 years, we have been constantly trying to bring in and adapt the experiences of different countries, but in the end, the ministry under different ministers at different times has ultimately acknowledged that those efforts did not lead to the desired outcomes,” the education expert said.
The ESTDEV said that it will continue to support educational reform in Armenia, with more Armenian teachers expected to join the training program in the next stage.
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