On June 20, 2024, the “Erasmus+ National Kick-off Day” event was held at the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. The event aimed to introduce the primary objectives and anticipated outcomes of Capacity Building projects undertaken by Armenian higher education and vocational education and training (VET) institutions funded through the Erasmus+ Call 2023. It facilitated discussions on project implementation and addressed challenges in the field, seeking collaborative solutions. More than 150 attendees were present at the meeting, including representatives from higher education institutions, vocational education institutions, civil society, business sectors, as well as education policymakers, and other stakeholders. The first half of the event was dedicated to the presentations of the 8 projects funded within the frame(s) of Erasmus+ Call 2023 on “Capacity Building in Higher Education” Action, three of which are coordinated by Armenian HEIs: Yerevan State University (KPI4HE Project), Armenian State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan (T4GREEN Project) and Vanadzor State University after H. Tumanyan (DeSIRe Project). Two representatives from VSU, the DeSIRe Project Coordinator, Associate Professor of the Chair of Foreign Languages and Literature, Ph.D. Lusik Vardanyan, and the Co-coordinator of the Project, Associate Professor of the same Chair, Ph.D. Gohar Dokholyan, were present at the event. Lusik Vardanyan was one of the key-note speakers who introduced the primary objectives of the Project, anticipated outcomes, potential risks and challenges, and strategies to addressing them. L. Vardanyan strongly emphasized the importance of enhancing both soft skills and hard skills in tertiary education, aligning them with the contemporary demands of the 21st-century labor market. One of the key objectives of the project is to implement 5 Modules focusing on Soft Skills and offer 5 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at partner universities in Armenia and Georgia. These initiatives aim to enhance students’ entrepreneurial, managerial, emotional intelligence, leadership, and business English skills among others. This way universities will embark on preparing competitive graduates equipped to tackle the challenges of the 21st-century job market.

More details about the event can be found here.