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The National Program for Educational 
Excellence and the Araratian Baccalaureate

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are one of the most talked about topics 
in our country today.

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However, not many people 
are well aware of the

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peculiarities of what the 
Araratian Baccalaureate offers.

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To sum up briefly, presently 
there are two state-approved

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educational programs in our country – 
the first is the one

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we had before and we have today, and

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the second is the 
Araratian Baccalaureate.

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What makes the Araratian Baccalaureate 
stand out and what we should expect

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after it's rolled out to schools? These 
are topics we will talk about

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with Dan Bray, 
Deputy Director of Assessment at

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Cambridge University’s 
Cambridge International Examinations.

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Hello.

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Dan Bray is the Deputy Director of

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Cambridge International Examinations of 
Cambridge University

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one of top educational institutions
in the world.

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He has been with Cambridge International 
Examinations for 10 years.

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Dan Bray and his team deal with various 
international education reform projects.

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that relate to assessment.

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The Cambridge International Examinations

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implements major projects in 160 countries
among which Armenia has its unique place.

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The Cambridge International Examinations 
has found the Araratian Baccalaureate

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high school program comparable to 
international standards and qualifications

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Mr. Bray is in Armenia to participate in

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the grading of the Araratian Baccalaureate
graduation exams

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as well as to discuss
future cooperation programs.

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Hello, Mr. Bray.

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Hello.

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As I am informed this is your 
second visit to Armenia,

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your first visit lasted only six hours.

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That’s right.

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Which was the reason of your first visit? 
And how cooperation with Armenia started?

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Well, we’ve been working with the 
Ayb Foundation for three years now,

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at first, we helped do some reviews 
of the curriculum they developed

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for the Baccalaureate so that it meets
international standards,

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and then for the last 18 months 
we have been working directly

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with the Araratian Baccalaureate 
Examination Center

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to help them make sure that the 
qualification, the assessments,

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the examinations for the Baccalaureate 
meet international standards.

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But last time I came, I came for a visit,

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unfortunately, the airplane was delayed,

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so by the time I arrived in Armenia 
it was almost time to leave

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so this is my first time actually 
to spend any time in Armenia.

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Your Center cooperates with 160 countries.

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Certainly, each of them has its own 
national, economic, and other features.

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Which are the Armenian features, and 
what kind of work do you do with them?

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What’s really important about the 
Araratian Baccalaureate

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is that this is a solution that’s been 
designed for Armenia, in Armenia

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by the Ayb Foundation and by Araratian
Baccalaureate Examination Center.

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This is not something that’s designed 
in Cambridge. We act as support,

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we act as consultancy, we make sure that 
the qualification will be recognized

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internationally, we make sure that in 
every step as they develop the new

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processes, they are always done 
to the highest standard,

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but this is not a process done 
in Cambridge,

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this is a solution designed in Armenia.

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One thing that we know from working 
with so many countries is

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that if you take a solution 
from one country

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and move it to somewhere else,

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even if it was a good solution 
for the first country

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it’s unlikely to have the same 
positive effect in the new country.

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So, one of the really positive things 
about working with Ayb is

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that they are designing something 
specifically for the Armenian market.

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You think it works?

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Yes, definitely, it’s essential.

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It couldn’t work any other way, 
what our job is to make sure that

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those specialists in Armenia, have the

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technical skills and the technical 
experience that we can bring to that.

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But it’s essential that the qualification 
is created by Armenians, in Armenia,

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because it’s only people locally 
that understand

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how the questions will be interpreted, 
how the learning will play in Armenia,

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we can’t know that from Cambridge.

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Which will be the differences between our 
old program graduates and

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Araratian Baccalaureate graduates? 
What we hope to see? Anything new,

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anything good? What will it be?


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The Baccalaureate has been designed

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to provide opportunities for students,
so it works on a number of principles,

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first of all it’s very carefully thought 
about the skills, talents and aspirations

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that students have, and that will be 
recognized by universities and employers

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both in Armenia and internationally, so 
we’re thinking about high thinking

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skills, creative skills, analytical 
skills, evaluation, those kind of

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internationally recognized skills.
Those are things that are present in the

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very best, world class international 
curricula and they are present

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in the Araratian Baccalaureate. And by 
encouraging those skills in students

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those students will be valued in the 
workplace and internationally by

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universities. The second part is that we 
are operating to standards that

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are equivalent to qualifications 
internationally, so we benchmark the

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standards to international qualifications,

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and we have designed the 
qualification specifically to do that,

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we have also had that recognized 
by extra or third party agencies

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to make sure we have that 
recognition by universities.

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So, we can tell a very powerful story
about the skills and talents

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of students taking the Baccalaureate. 
And those are recognized by universities

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and that provides opportunities for the

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students taking the qualification.

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Our President announced about creating

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new school network offering the Araratian 
Baccalaureate.

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What will it change in our country?

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One of the key things in the very best 
education systems is a concept that we

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refer to as “coherence.” And what I mean
by coherence is that there is a

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vision of what’s trying to be achieved and
then all aspects of the education system

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are aligned to that vision –

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so the curriculum, the teacher training,

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pedagogy in the classroom, the school 
facilities, the assessments, the funding –

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everything is aligned to the vision,
that’s true of the Araratian Baccalaureate

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and that’s what we’re hoping, that not 
only the people taking the qualification

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directly but also the other schools can 
benefit from that vision.

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Examinations in Armenia are conducted by 
Araratian Baccalaureate Examination Center

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but you sign up for it.
What do you think about quality of

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examinations, and the education of the 
pupils?

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When it comes to the Araratian 
Baccalaureate Examination Center it’s

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my job and my team's job to make sure that
the standards that they operate

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are the same standards that are operated 
on Cambridge’s own international

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qualifications. And we wouldn’t sign to 
put our support behind unless

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we believed that was true. 
And they were working really hard and

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to a very high standard, to a very high
quality and I am very happy

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to support that.

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The Araratian Baccalaureate is an 
internationally-recognized

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Armenian-language educational program 
intended for high school students.

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Thus, after completing basic school 
students can opt for one of the two

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state-approved programs: if students 
opt for the current educational program

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they automatically move to high school, 
while in case of the

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Araratian Baccalaureate, all students are 
expected to take admission exams.

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Upon successfully completing the

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Araratian Baccalaureate high school 
program, students receive a certificate

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bearing the logo of the Cambridge 
University, by which the latter confirms

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the quality of the program. 
The certificate enables and

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facilitates admission to local 
and international universities,

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in this case, if necessary, students 
will be expected to take only

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the exams which they did not take 
when completing the program.

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Presently only Ayb School offers 
the Araratian Baccalaureate,

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however, by 2018, 20 schools in 
Armenian regions and one school in Artsakh

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are projected to be certified as
Araratian Baccalaureate schools.

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You shouldn’t confuse the Araratian 
Baccalaureate with Ayb School.

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Education in Araratian Baccalaureate 
schools will be free of charge.

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The Araratian Baccalaureate is the 
only internationally-recognized program

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which is delivered in Armenian.


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And the last question, non-professional.

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What you hope to see in Armenia? 
What is interesting for you in Armenia?

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After I finish working, 
I have invited my wife

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to join me for the next three days,
so we’re spending the time touring round.

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We’re going to head up the mountains,
we’re going to do some wine tasting and

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spend some time in Yerevan. It’s a 
beautiful country and I am hoping that

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in the next three-four days 
I will have a chance

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to really get to know some 
more of the country.

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Thank you for the interesting 
conversation.

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I would like to remind you that our 
today’s guest was Dan Bray,

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Deputy Director at Cambridge University's 
Cambridge International Examinations,

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who is in Armenia to support

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the grading of the Araratian Baccalaureate
graduation exams.

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Goodbye.