ArmInfo.RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Arayik Harutyunyan received a delegation led by the German Ambassador to Armenia Michael Johannes Banzhaf. This was reported by the press service of the ministry.
According to the source, the Minister noted that the coronavirus epidemic had a great impact on education and science, creating the need to implement programs remotely, however the sectors of culture and sports were most affected by the pandemic. According to Harutyunyan, cooperation with the German side in all areas is at a high level. The Minister informed the Ambassador that during the tension created on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, state institutions became the targets of the enemy. "Azerbaijan even fired at educational institutions, schools and kindergartens," he stressed, expressing the hope that the partners would adequately respond to the incident.
In turn, the German Ambassador to Armenia stated that the OSCE and the OSCE Secretary General gave an appropriate assessment of the incident, stating that a settlement is possible only through negotiations.
Touching upon joint educational programs, the parties agreed that the forthcoming transfer of the Yerevan office of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to Tbilisi will have a negative impact on the effectiveness of organizing projects in Armenia. The Ambassador said that today the organization is in the process of reorganization, at present it has 18 offices, 53 information centers, and he turned to the center of Tbilisi to find out whether it would be possible to implement programs with the same efficiency in Armenia without a center.
The Minister highly appreciated the programs carried out with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in the field of vocational education, as well as the Armenian-German cooperation in the field of science. They also discussed programs for retraining teachers and the possibility of expanding the Armenian-German cooperation in the field of general education. At present, the parties have significantly intensified Armenian-German joint efforts to expand the activities of the partner center for the study of the German language named after A. Goethe in Yerevan.
Speaking about cultural programs, the parties confirmed that the events dedicated to the 250th anniversary of Beethoven, scheduled for autumn, will be postponed. Later, these events will be held at a high level.