Acronyms and Abbreviations

List of acronyms and abbreviations most commonly used on this blog:

AACSB	Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
AMD	Armenian Dram (currency)
AUA	American University of Armenia
BA	Bachelor of Arts degree
BS	Bachelor of Science degree
CEEC	Central and eastern European countries
CEO	Chief executive officer
CEPES	European Centre for Higher Education (UNESCO)
CIS	Commonwealth of Independent States
EAIR	European Association for Institutional Research
EC	European Commission
ECTS	European Credit Transfer System
ED	Education
EFMD	European Foundation for Management Development
EHEA	European Higher Education Area
EIF	Enterprise Incubator Foundation of Armenia
ENIC	European National Information Centre on Academic Recognition
ENQA	European Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education
EQ&R	Education quality and relevance
EQAR	European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education
EQUIS	European Quality Improvement System accreditation
Erasmus	European Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students
ERIICTA	European Regional Institute of Information & Communication Technology
ESF	European Science Foundation
ESU	European Students’ Union
ETF	European Training Foundation
EU	European Union
EUA	European University Association
EURASHE	European Association of Institutions of Higher Education
Eureka	European Research Coordination Agency
Eurostat	European Statistical Office
Eurydice	European information network on education
FSU	Former Soviet Union
GATS	General Agreements on Trade in Services
GDP	Gross domestic product
GERD	General expenditures on research & development
GNP	Gross national product
HDI	Human development index
HE	Higher education
HEI	Higher education institution
IAU	International Association of Universities
ICT	Information & communication technologies
IELTS	International English Language Testing System
INQAAHE	International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in HE
IPR	Intellectual property rights
ISCED	International Standard Classification of Education
ISO	International Organization for Standardization
IT	Information technology
KE	Knowledge economy
LAS	Licensing and accreditation services
MA	Master of Arts degree
MES	Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia
MP	Member of Parliament
MRA	Mutual recognition agreements
MSc	Master of Science degree
MSYA	Ministry of Sport & Youth Affairs of Armenia
NARIC	National Academic Recognition Information Centre
NAS	National Academy of Science of Armenia
NGO	Non-governmental organization
NSS	National Statistical Service of Armenia
OBHE	Observatory on Borderless Higher Education
OECD	Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development
PhD	Doctor of Philosophy degree
R&D	Research and development
RA	Republic of Armenia
RAU	Russian-Armenian (Slavic) State University
SAUA	State Agrarian University of Armenia
SEUA	State Engineering University of Armenia - Polytechnic
Tempus	Trans-European mobility scheme for university studies
TOEFL	Test of English as a Foreign Language
TQM	Total Quality Management
UFAR	French University in Armenia
UK	United Kingdom
UN	United Nations
UNCTAD	United Nations Conference on Trade & Development
UNDP	United Nations Development Program
UNESCO	United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization
UNICA	Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe
UNICE	Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe
USA	United States of America
USAID	United States Agency for International Development
USD	United States Dollar
USSR	Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
VET	Vocational and technical education
WEI	World Education Indicators of the OECD/UNESCO
WTO	World Trade Organization
YSAFA	Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts
YSC	Komitas Yerevan State Conservatory
YSLU	Brusov Yerevan State Linguistic University
YSMU	Mekhitar Heratsi Yerevan State Medical University
YSPU	Khachatour Abovian Yerevan State Pedagogical University
YSU	Yerevan State University
YSUAC	Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction
YSUE	Yerevan State University of Economics

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EU Agency's Report on Armenia:

The European Training Foundation (ETF) has released a brief dated 15 July 2008 on Armenia.

The report doesn’t reveal anything new: The Armenian education system is in a disastrous situation and the authorities are not doing anything about it. What may be considered new and interesting is the blunt tone that the authors have used to describe the situation. This is a nice break from the usual diplomatic-bureaucratic style that European agencies favor in their reports.

Based in Turin, Italy, ETF is an agency of the European Union that strives to contribute to the development of the education and training systems in EU’s partner countries. One of its peculiarities is that it pays much attention to vocational training along with academic programs.

It also tries to maintain a close monitoring of the labor market, its structure and dynamics, to ascertain the fit between education sub-systems and market needs, and to identify new areas of reform and improvement. ETF’s most recent program in Yerevan was a seminar entitled “Youth and Skills: The Contribution of Vocational Education and Training” that took place last May.

According to ETF’s recent brief, there is a deep contrast between Armenia’s economic performance and the attention that the authorities pay to the education sector:

“With the 2nd highest economic growth in the Caucasus region, Armenia’s economic performance has been continuously improving during the last decade. Despite its limited natural resources, Armenia succeeded in reducing its poverty rate which has been dropping significantly since the start of the transition period. Many factors contribute to this decrease: the Armenian macro economic policy, international aid and the Diaspora grants, and the growth of some sectors (especially construction and trade).

Although the unemployment rate has been decreasing in Armenia; it is believed that the number of registered unemployed Armenian job seekers has been going down because a significant proportion of unemployed people do not seek jobs through state employment centers. Another concern is the low level of graduates from vocational schools and universities.

Concerning education, a new law was adopted in 1999 and higher education has registered a clear growth in the number of entrants, students, and graduates. However, Armenian reforms have excluded education. Public spending on education has been declining along with teachers’ salaries while investments in new textbooks, laboratories, equipment, and buildings are absent. Accordingly, the Armenians are still suffering from unequal access to education”.

I would like to thank Ms. Milena Corradini, ETF Project Manager for Armenia, and her team for this sincere and clear description of the situation. And I am sure that the majority of Armenia’s academic community will share my appreciation.

In the same way, I am sure the authorities and the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) bureaucrats will dislike and disapprove ETF’s assessment. Not so much because what ETF has said is untrue, but because ETF has said it and has said it publicly.

Our politicians and public servants (bureaucrats who do everything except providing service) have a very low predisposition to criticism. Criticism is not seen as an act of friendship that provides an opportunity to identify problems in order to solve them, to improve and to advance. Criticism is seen as an act of hostility causing humiliation (“lose of face”) and questioning one’s absolute power. In the worst case, it is interpreted as an act of conspiracy (“Who is behind this?”, “What does EU want again?” etc.).

Hopefully, this time it will be different. Although ETF is not a major EU agency, I hope our political leadership and MES bureaucrats will take ETF's assessment in a conscientious and professional way and, above all, will finally decide to act.

To know more about ETF’s activities in Armenia, please click here.