The National Program for Educational Excellence and the Araratian Baccalaureate
are one of the most talked about topics in our country today.
However, not many people are well aware of the
peculiarities of what the Araratian Baccalaureate offers.
To sum up briefly, presently there are two state-approved
educational programs in our country – the first is the one
we had before and we have today, and
the second is the Araratian Baccalaureate.
What makes the Araratian Baccalaureate stand out and what we should expect
after it's rolled out to schools? These are topics we will talk about
with Dan Bray, Deputy Director of Assessment at
Cambridge University’s Cambridge International Examinations.
Hello.
Dan Bray is the Deputy Director of
Cambridge International Examinations of Cambridge University
one of top educational institutions in the world.
He has been with Cambridge International Examinations for 10 years.
Dan Bray and his team deal with various international education reform projects.
that relate to assessment.
The Cambridge International Examinations
implements major projects in 160 countries among which Armenia has its unique place.
The Cambridge International Examinations has found the Araratian Baccalaureate
high school program comparable to international standards and qualifications
Mr. Bray is in Armenia to participate in
the grading of the Araratian Baccalaureate graduation exams
as well as to discuss future cooperation programs.
Hello, Mr. Bray.
Hello.
As I am informed this is your second visit to Armenia,
your first visit lasted only six hours.
That’s right.
Which was the reason of your first visit? And how cooperation with Armenia started?
Well, we’ve been working with the Ayb Foundation for three years now,
at first, we helped do some reviews of the curriculum they developed
for the Baccalaureate so that it meets international standards,
and then for the last 18 months we have been working directly
with the Araratian Baccalaureate Examination Center
to help them make sure that the qualification, the assessments,
the examinations for the Baccalaureate meet international standards.
But last time I came, I came for a visit,
unfortunately, the airplane was delayed,
so by the time I arrived in Armenia it was almost time to leave
so this is my first time actually to spend any time in Armenia.
Your Center cooperates with 160 countries.
Certainly, each of them has its own national, economic, and other features.
Which are the Armenian features, and what kind of work do you do with them?
What’s really important about the Araratian Baccalaureate
is that this is a solution that’s been designed for Armenia, in Armenia
by the Ayb Foundation and by Araratian Baccalaureate Examination Center.
This is not something that’s designed in Cambridge. We act as support,
we act as consultancy, we make sure that the qualification will be recognized
internationally, we make sure that in every step as they develop the new
processes, they are always done to the highest standard,
but this is not a process done in Cambridge,
this is a solution designed in Armenia.
One thing that we know from working with so many countries is
that if you take a solution from one country
and move it to somewhere else,
even if it was a good solution for the first country
it’s unlikely to have the same positive effect in the new country.
So, one of the really positive things about working with Ayb is
that they are designing something specifically for the Armenian market.
You think it works?
Yes, definitely, it’s essential.
It couldn’t work any other way, what our job is to make sure that
those specialists in Armenia, have the
technical skills and the technical experience that we can bring to that.
But it’s essential that the qualification is created by Armenians, in Armenia,
because it’s only people locally that understand
how the questions will be interpreted, how the learning will play in Armenia,
we can’t know that from Cambridge.
Which will be the differences between our old program graduates and
Araratian Baccalaureate graduates? What we hope to see? Anything new,
anything good? What will it be?
The Baccalaureate has been designed
to provide opportunities for students, so it works on a number of principles,
first of all it’s very carefully thought about the skills, talents and aspirations
that students have, and that will be recognized by universities and employers
both in Armenia and internationally, so we’re thinking about high thinking
skills, creative skills, analytical skills, evaluation, those kind of
internationally recognized skills. Those are things that are present in the
very best, world class international curricula and they are present
in the Araratian Baccalaureate. And by encouraging those skills in students
those students will be valued in the workplace and internationally by
universities. The second part is that we are operating to standards that
are equivalent to qualifications internationally, so we benchmark the
standards to international qualifications,
and we have designed the qualification specifically to do that,
we have also had that recognized by extra or third party agencies
to make sure we have that recognition by universities.
So, we can tell a very powerful story about the skills and talents
of students taking the Baccalaureate. And those are recognized by universities
and that provides opportunities for the
students taking the qualification.
Our President announced about creating
new school network offering the Araratian Baccalaureate.
What will it change in our country?
One of the key things in the very best education systems is a concept that we
refer to as “coherence.” And what I mean by coherence is that there is a
vision of what’s trying to be achieved and then all aspects of the education system
are aligned to that vision –
so the curriculum, the teacher training,
pedagogy in the classroom, the school facilities, the assessments, the funding –
everything is aligned to the vision, that’s true of the Araratian Baccalaureate
and that’s what we’re hoping, that not only the people taking the qualification
directly but also the other schools can benefit from that vision.
Examinations in Armenia are conducted by Araratian Baccalaureate Examination Center
but you sign up for it. What do you think about quality of
examinations, and the education of the pupils?
When it comes to the Araratian Baccalaureate Examination Center it’s
my job and my team's job to make sure that the standards that they operate
are the same standards that are operated on Cambridge’s own international
qualifications. And we wouldn’t sign to put our support behind unless
we believed that was true. And they were working really hard and
to a very high standard, to a very high quality and I am very happy
to support that.
The Araratian Baccalaureate is an internationally-recognized
Armenian-language educational program intended for high school students.
Thus, after completing basic school students can opt for one of the two
state-approved programs: if students opt for the current educational program
they automatically move to high school, while in case of the
Araratian Baccalaureate, all students are expected to take admission exams.
Upon successfully completing the
Araratian Baccalaureate high school program, students receive a certificate
bearing the logo of the Cambridge University, by which the latter confirms
the quality of the program. The certificate enables and
facilitates admission to local and international universities,
in this case, if necessary, students will be expected to take only
the exams which they did not take when completing the program.
Presently only Ayb School offers the Araratian Baccalaureate,
however, by 2018, 20 schools in Armenian regions and one school in Artsakh
are projected to be certified as Araratian Baccalaureate schools.
You shouldn’t confuse the Araratian Baccalaureate with Ayb School.
Education in Araratian Baccalaureate schools will be free of charge.
The Araratian Baccalaureate is the only internationally-recognized program
which is delivered in Armenian.
And the last question, non-professional.
What you hope to see in Armenia? What is interesting for you in Armenia?
After I finish working, I have invited my wife
to join me for the next three days, so we’re spending the time touring round.
We’re going to head up the mountains, we’re going to do some wine tasting and
spend some time in Yerevan. It’s a beautiful country and I am hoping that
in the next three-four days I will have a chance
to really get to know some more of the country.
Thank you for the interesting conversation.
I would like to remind you that our today’s guest was Dan Bray,
Deputy Director at Cambridge University's Cambridge International Examinations,
who is in Armenia to support
the grading of the Araratian Baccalaureate graduation exams.
Goodbye.