The Armenian-Russian Innovation Center to be Oppened Soon

In a recent interview with T.P. of News.am Armenian online news agency, Mr. Samvel Haroutunian Chairman of the State Committee on Science commented on the Armenian-Russian Innovation Center due to be inaugurated soon. His very optimistic tone lead the journalist to title the interview ‘The Armenian-Russian Innovation Center will resolve innovation project problems.’

In the area of innovation, including commercialization of innovation, it is a fact that Russia has faced and continues to face many structural problems as does Armenia and therefore I cannot share such overly optimistic expectations regarding the perspectives of their collaboration. The interview nevertheless contains many important information and ideas:

Mr. Harutyunyan, last October Igor Morozov, Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Agency Rossotrudnichestvo (Rusintercenter), reported the establishment of a Russian-Armenian Innovation Center in Armenia. The Center was to operate at the Russian Center of Science and Culture. At what stage is the project now?

The Russian-Armenian Innovation Center is expected to start operating late this month. The Center does not have many staff members yet, but the staff will certainly grow later. I would like to note that the decision to found the Center was made at the highest level, by the Russian and Armenian Presidents. The decision was followed by long discussions between the two governments, with experts involved.

I would also like to point out that Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) (Russia), Academician Alexei Sisakian greatly contributed to the foundation of the Center in Armenia. Finally, a decision was made to launch a pilot program of establishing innovation centers, with the first launched in Yerevan.

Why did Russia select Armenia as the first of the CIS member-states for this project? We have no common border, and the two states have greatly different population sizes.

Let us remember that Armenia was traditionally among the leaders in the former Soviet Union as to per capita number of scientists. This is evidence of our country’s great scientific potential. So such factors as area and population size are not essential.

Unfortunately, some of our talented scientists emigrated in search of higher salaries. But we hope that the project will encourage specialists in this field to return to Armenia.
Also, Armenia’s small territory has its advantages – research is easier to conduct. Of course, the project will not be implemented in Armenia alone. Similar centers will be founded in the other CIS member-countries, as well as in Berlin, Germany. All the issues will be specified after the pilot program has been launched in Armenia.

Are there any specific programs the Russian-Armenian Center will implement? Will the center’s activities be restricted to innovative programs?

We have 2-3 programs in the field of nanomaterials. But it is too early to specify the program portfolio. The Russian side will propose programs to us, as we will consider the possibility of implementing them in Armenia. Of course, the Center will not restrict its activities to this. For example, Russian specialists will conduct training courses in science management for young Armenian scientists.

Many research results are not applied in practice because of poor management, which affects commercialization of science in Armenia. Also, we plan an exhibition of products and innovation programs in Armenia.

Innovation programs have hardly been implemented in Armenia since the USSR collapsed…

You are right. The cause was a simple one; lack of money for such research. Innovation projects are “high-risk” ones as far as return on investment in concerned. Specifically, 10 of 100 innovation projects normally pass scientific expert examinations, with only one project producing practical results. On the other hand, the economic impact of this one compensates for the money spent on all the others. So venture funds normally finance such “high-risk” projects. However, the formation of such funds in Armenia has been talked about for many years, with no practical steps made so far.

A business environment was formed in Armenia long ago, and large enterprises are operating. Amid globalization and integration of the Armenian economy into the global market, enhancing the competitiveness of local products and services is an urgent matter. Does this fact draw businessmen’s attention to science?

Unfortunately, the Armenian business community has not yet “matured” for funding the research it actually needs. Local businessmen are guided by the following principle: investing money today and getting profit from research tomorrow. So we cannot speak of any interest in fundamental research on the Armenian business community’s part, as such research produces results many years later. But we expect the Russian-Armenian Innovation Center to resolve the problems of launching innovation projects. The Russian side has promised its huge market to us.

The State Committee on Science is a recently formed agency. Are there any legal problems that impede full-scale activities, particularly, in the field of innovation projects?

It is a most topical question. Of course, the previously adopted laws and government decisions did not provide for our agency. Specifically, as far as innovation programs are concerned, I do not think the present separation of functions between the State Committee on Science and the Ministry of Economy is optimal. Why should the Ministry of Economy be in charge of commercializing research results, but not the Committee on Science, which is a specialized agency? It is not clear how the ministry experts are going to conduct examination of research projects. Moreover, no funds have been assigned to the ministry for the examination from the state budget. All these issues need settling.

[Turkey's] Education at a Dead End

If Turkey does not develop a good educational strategy, the young population of today may lead the country to its end, according to Professor Selahattin Turan, the Deputy Dean of Eskişehir Osmangazi University. “The education system and the adults destroy the potential in children and their eagerness to learn,” he asserts.

In an interview with Hurriyet Turkish daily Prof. Turan indicates that the main purposes of education should be to bring out the potential in children, strengthen their self-esteem, and help them become self-confident individuals. “Education should give the necessary tools to students to become effective members of the society. But in Turkey, most of the schools have become places where students only solve tests. The school staff just carries on with their jobs, [giving] no added value,” he said. “In the past, schools used to stand at the heart of education. But now there is an abundance of private tutoring courses which points to the failure of schools.”

Outdated System

According to Turan, the current Turkish education is not a future-oriented system. He believes that all kinds of examinations that classify and eliminate students should be avoided, and that tests that categorize students, such as the SBS, the qualification exam for high school entrance, and the ÖSS, the university entrance exam, are outdated.

“The current examination system forces children to concentrate on certain subjects with a narrow mind, but education systems in the rest of the world highlight the importance of being open-minded,” he said. “We do not have the right to categorize our children, because it jeopardizes the students’ motivation to learn and destroys their commitment to school. We should, instead, opt for a system that would promote the social characteristics of children and evaluate them multi-dimensionally.”

Educational tools and skills have evolved in the 21st century, but the exam system in Turkish education still functions as a “destroyer” of skills, Turan said. “A person who is 1 year old today will face the major problem of not being able to manage him or herself in the year 2020 or 2030,” the professor added. “If we insist on continuing with our system, in 10 years’ time, we will be facing the same problems Western countries faced 20 years ago.”

A major obstacle in raising creative individuals is vocational high schools, Turan said, adding that the state should immediately stop supporting such schools, which should instead be operated by chambers of industry and commerce.

Vocational Secondary School As Ghetto

“Vocational secondary schools have become structures that boost injustice and inequality in education; they create a caste system,” the professor said. “In Turkey, vocational schools are mostly preferred by low-income families. What we should do is create a proper milieu to encourage students to make free choices.”

A poor child’s destiny should not be limited to being sent to a vocational school, Turan said. “Several vocational schools have been left behind in regards to technological development. They have expired. They should be closed down,” he said. “It should not be the state’s job to train and educate intermediary staff for the industry, for the rich segment of society; the state should educate students as well-equipped members of society.”

Teachers Behind Students

“If Turkey wants to survive in the future, it has to review its own creativity,” he added. “Turkey’s population consists of young people; 65 percent of the population is under the age of 35. This means Turkey has a high potential of creativity and dynamism, but because of our education system, no good comes out of it.”

“Children should be taught how to operate laptops, mobile phones and websites such as Facebook. Some schools have blocked access to Facebook. This is outdated and primitive,” the professor said. “We need to teach our children these networks; we cannot go anywhere with restrictions. Teachers are sometimes left behind their students.”

“Turkey would become one of the most powerful countries in the world if it revises its education system,” he added. “If we cannot develop a good strategy, the young population that we always praise will lead us to our end.

Education Quality Assurance in Georgia

Compared to its neighboring countries, Georgia has made big strides in recent years on redefining quality assurance in the education system and establishing new set of procedures and structures to measure quality. The Messenger, a Georgian online magazine recently reviewed a comprehensive report titled 'The Quality Assurance System in Georgian Schools' written by Professor Simon Janashia from Ilia Chavchavadze State University and published by the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development.

The report focuses on primary and secondary education but its discussion on quality and quality assurance can be applied on higher education as well. Hence, excerpts from the Messenger review written by Ms. Laura Dabrowski follow:

For the past six years the Georgian Government has been working towards reforming the general education system and much progress has been made. In addition to creating a legislative foundation for the new education system, between 2004 and 2008 it established the Education Management Information System (EMIS), an important tool used biannually to assemble statistical data about schools for the Ministry of Education and Science. More however needs to be done to improve the quality of education. Additionally, more time is needed for the educational reforms to run their course so that their full impact can be assessed.

What is “quality” education? This is a difficult question to answer because definitions of quality differ, and different people (i.e. parents, teachers, students) will all have different views on what a quality education means to them. According to Janashia, “Quality education is the correlation of our goals with students’ existing knowledge, skills and attitudes.” In other words, the more student achievement matches the academic goals set for them, the better the quality of education.

Why is a quality education important? Its main goal is to provide students with knowledge and skills that will last a lifetime. Presumably higher quality education will lead to higher income, because the better educated have better jobs...

Although there is no agreement in Georgia on an exact set of educational standards, the National Goals for General Education provide the nearest thing. This was distributed to schools for teachers to review and is printed in each officially endorsed textbook, but it is uncertain whether parents are aware of these goals and rare for policymakers to refer to them. A major problem in the Georgian education system is that “perceptions of quality are based on a system of incentives, rather than on shared goals…Current Government policy is to shape perceptions of educational standards through tools, such prizes (in the form of either medals or resources such as computers) for academic achievement.”

Additionally, the United Entrance Examinations are popularly viewed as indirect indicators of educational quality, yet these exams were not originally designed with this intention. Another main problem is that studies of quality education are rare. Existing evaluations are not conducted in a way that can be used to gauge educational standards, Janashia says.

... The determinants of a quality education include: the existence of relevant goals, the relevance of the curriculum, the efficient use of time, effective methods of teaching, assessments undertaken to improve practice and the availability of resources. Pre-schooling has also been shown to be important to increase the quality of education because it is where children first learn cognitive and social skills. It is difficult, however, to determine the exact effect of any single determinant and it must be considered that some determinants will have a greater impact than others, depending on the context of the educational system.

Currently, Georgia’s education system ensures quality in schools by giving them funding using a voucher system, where more students equals more vouchers. This is particularly important in urban schools, which have larger numbers of students than rural schools.

The Ministry of Education and Science also uses an incentive system involving awarding medals and holding school 'Olympiads' which were originally designed to test the effectiveness of new reforms and encourage teachers. Starting in 2010, teacher quality will be maintained through a certification system, teacher training programs and accreditation.

The renovation of school buildings, updating of technology in schools, textbook endorsement and the evaluation and training of textbook writers, editors, designers and publishers will ensure quality in these areas. A licensing system also exists to ensure that newly founded schools meet minimal standards and offer positive learning environments. Although it is not in effect yet, a school accreditation system is also being developed to evaluate schools individually and provide tailored recommendations to each.

Janashia finds the main quality problem in education to be “the use of outdated models by both the State and the public at large.” He also fears that too much attention and funding is being given to reforms that show immediate results and focus only on short term improvement. He recommends that the school support infrastructure is strengthened, as the individual resource centers now in place cater for too many schools and experience high staff turnover. As each school has different needs Janashia also recommends that the Government tailor assistance to these individual needs.

… Data about individual schools needs to be collected. Janashia recommends creating school fact sheets, “which will compare the achievements of an individual school with State targets.” This data needs to be reviewed regularly and used by the State in policymaking for it to be most effective. Schools should also reward innovation in their students by promoting creativity, analysis and critical thinking, rather than only memorizing facts, and progress and forward thinking in teachers should be rewarded through incentives, which could include a bonus system, Janashia says.

Focus on long term sustainable change, efficiency, transparency, communication and innovation, Janashia predicts, will lead to increased educational quality in Georgian schools.

To download the report from the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development website, please click here.

Towards An Arab University in Armenia?

The Armenian higher education scene continues to internationalize and, strangely, to fragment more. This is despite Minister of Education Mr. Ashotian’s repetitive assertions that there is a need for better deployment of national resources and therefore a more concentrated and integrated structure. Meanwhile, the total number of students in higher education remains unchanged.

Hardly two months after Mr. Ashotian proudly announced that the Moscow State University will open a branch campus in Yerevan next year, Minister of Territorial Administration Mr. Armen Gevorgian recently declared that an Arab university may open its doors in Armenia in the near future.

Strangely, the news has been reported only by Azerbaijani media.

According to Today.az Azerbaijani online magazine, Mr. Gevorgian discussed the possibilities of cooperation in the field of education and science with Vice-Chancellor of Higher Colleges of Technology Mr. Tayeb Kamali during his visit to the United Arab Emirates. The issues will be further examined when Mr. Tayeb Kamali visits Armenia in February 2010.

At the invitation of the Minister of Education and Scientific Research of UAE Mr. Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyani, Mr. Armen Gevorgian also held talks with members of UAE’s "Young Leaders" organization.

Mr. Gevorgyan expressed Armenia’s readiness to establish the Arab university in Armenia, which will be the first in the region.

It is too early to comment the initiative as it is unclear at this point what kind of institution will be established. Will it merely be a technical institution with Emirati owners or will it be a rather comprehensive institution similar to the American University of Armenia and the Russian-Armenian University. In the latter case, the new HEI may indeed fill up in a major gap that exists in Armenia’s cultural and scientific links with the Arab world.

Azerbaijan to Revamp Its Higher Education Financing

Azerbaijan Education Ministry has announced that starting in September 2010 it will implement a new financing/scholarship scheme in the country’s higher education sector. A similar scheme has been under examination in Armenia for several years but the change has been deferred due to influences by various interest groups.

According to APA Azerbaijani news agency, Azerbaijani Education Minister Mr. Misir Mardanov has announced that from next academic year all Azerbaijani HEIs will be financed per student. According to the new system, the State will directly finance the student – will offer the student a voucher – and then the student will decide which HEI to attend.

According to the system currently in place in Azerbaijan as well as in Armenia and most of the other ex-Soviet republics, the State finances, subsidizes, a certain number of places at public HEIs according to which they admit the corresponding number of applicants/students.

Lithuanian Inspirations

Apparently the change of policy in Azerbaijan will be largely based on the Lithuanian experience.

On the occasion of a recent visit by Lithuanian Education and Science Minister Mr. Gintaras Steponavichius, Mr. Mardanov announced that Azerbaijan has closely examined Lithuania’s successful adoption of the voucher system.

According to Mr. Mardanov, the World Bank is ready to extend a special loan for the implementation of the project. The representatives of the World Bank took part in Azerbaijani-Lithuanian discussions.

“The funds will differ per student in the HEIs. We want this difference to be objective. We do not want the funds allocated for higher education to be wasted. Our main objective is that the funds allocated for higher education serve to increase the quality of education,” he reportedly said.

The Russian Church Fails in Schools

We have noted several times on this blog the continuous push by Russia’s religious establishment to redefine secularism in the country’s education system. The Orthodox church has championed this drive followed by the Islamic clergy. According to Paul Goble, an expert on the region, such attempts however seem to backfire.

In a recent post in his blog “Window on Eurasia”, via Georgia Daily online magazine, he informs that the Moscow Patriarchate’s push for religious instruction in Russian schools is backfiring in at least 3 ways:
1.
Polls from around the country show that an overwhelming percentage of young people and their parents want to attend courses in secular ethics rather than religion.
2.
Rights activists are warning that religious instruction particularly if it is given by unqualified people will alienate many young people still further from any interest in religion.
3.
Public reaction to the Orthodox Church’s effort highlights two things that the Patriarchate cannot be pleased about. On the one hand, it shows the impact of Soviet anti-religious efforts were more successful and continue to cast a longer shadow than many in that country and the West have thought.

On the other, this reaction calls into question the Patriarchate’s repeated insistence that more than three quarters of the Russian population is Russian Orthodox because more than three quarters of the population is ethnic Russian and that as a result, the Russian state should defer to Orthodoxy rather than defend the secular values enshrined in the Russian Constitution.

More Than 9 in 10 for Secular Ethics

Many surveys have shown little interest in religious instruction in Russia. One recent poll is especially striking: A poll of 1331 children in a Urals city found fewer than a 100 wanted to attend courses in Orthodox culture and a mere handful courses on Islam or Judaism, while 93 percent wanted courses in secular ethics.

This result, the latest in a series of polls conducted by education officials, suggests that relatively few children, perhaps less than one in ten, and their parents are interested in religious instruction, a reflection of both widespread support for secular values and concern about just how religious groups might use such courses.

And because such polls are being used to guide regional administrations concerning the purchase of textbooks and the hiring of instructors, their findings suggest that Patriarch Kirill’s push for such instruction may not have the results that he and the Orthodox Church hoped for or that many human rights activists feared.

Moreover, Mr. Goble refers to Ms. Lyudmila Alekseyeva, the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, who has pointed out in an interview, the Church itself should recognize that “in fact, the introduction of a school course on ‘The Foundations of Orthodox Culture” is not in [its] interest” either. Ms. Alekseyeva believes that there is nothing more likely to drive people away from religion “than lessons which are conducted by illiterate instructors,” something Russians experienced in the 19th century and that, at least in some places, Russians may experience again in the 21st.

Both these polls and those possibilities naturally are a matter of concern for the Russian Orthodox Church – and for the other “traditional” religions of Russia (Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism). But this pattern because of what it says about the pattern of religious belief in Russia carries with it an even greater challenge to the Moscow Patriarchate.

Equalizing Religion & Ethnicity

More than the leaders of any other faith, the Patriarchate has insisted on an “ethnic” definition of religious life, even as it has denigrated claims by the leaders of other religions, particularly Islam, that they can count as members of their faith all those who identify themselves with a nationality that historically practiced that religion.

Kirill and his supporters regularly claim that almost 80 percent of the population of the Russian Federation is Orthodox because almost 80 percent of the population is ethnic Russian, and many in the Church use that argument to make three inter-related claims about the nature of the country.

First, they insist that the 80 percent figure makes Russia an ethnically and religious unified country with minorities rather than a composite of several different nationalities and faiths.

Second, they say that the state must recognize that reality regardless of what the 1993 Constitution says about the separation of Church and State.

And third, they say that the Russian political establishment must recognize Orthodoxy not just as primus inter pares but as the definer of Russian nationhood and statehood, however tolerant or intolerant the powers that be may prove to be with regard to the other “traditional” faiths or non-traditional ones.

According to Paul Goble, such claims may seem plausible, but the results of this campaign suggest that Kirill and the Moscow Patriarchate may have made a major miscalculation in pushing so hard for religious instruction in the public schools, a drive that could undermine their claims for Orthodoxy and encourage both followers of other faiths and those of no faith at all to defend their interests.

Integration of ICT in Turkish Education

In an international conference on learning technologies that took place in London at the beginning of this year, the Education Minister of Turkey Ms. Nimet Çubukçu announced that the use of information technologies was her top priority.

The conference was attended by representatives – usually at ministerial level – of more than 100 countries.

According to Anatolian Turkish news agency, via Zaman Turkish daily, in her presentation Ms. Çubukçu said that several large-scale technological projects have already been carried out to help nearly 15 million Turkish students and 600,000 teachers to have access to various ICT tools.

Even the Shoe Size

According to the Minister, 100 percent of high school students and 95 percent of primary school students have access to the Internet and all the schools have the capability to create and launch their own websites.

Ms. Çubukçu also said that Turkish Education Ministry has implemented several projects in cooperation with major global ICT firms such as Microsoft, Intel and Cisco. "For example, thanks to our e-school system, we can collect more than 100 different data regarding weight, height, attendance, and even the shoe size of 15 million students," she said.

Stating that Turkey would continue to follow technological advances in the area of education, Ms. Çubukçu added that "our goal is to raise the quality of education, create a better future for our children and help our people be part of the modern world. For this reason, we want to cooperate with all countries not only in the field of education but also in other areas."