As of September 2022 Polytechnic Yerevan High School has acquired the status of a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program (DP). Large-scale work has been carried out to obtain authorization after becoming a candidate school. The established prerequisites and regulations for obtaining authorization for the International Baccalaureate Diploma program have been thoroughly studied. Commencing from December 2022, the Polytechnic working group initiated the selecting process of educational personnel encompassing teaching staff, teaching assistants, and administrative personnel. Specifically, individuals possessing the capacity to instruct in foreign languages were sought from both the University and Polytech Yerevan High School. Moreover, professionals from diverse educational institutions were kindly invited to join in this undertaking. Through a rigorous process of interviews and assessments, 15 professional candidates for teaching staff in relevant subjects, a librarian, and a consultant for university affairs have been recruited.
A prerequisite for obtaining the authorization of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program and the implementation of education is the retraining of personnel. The training is meant to help teachers, coordinators and directors improve their understanding and awareness of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, develop their learning skills and always be well aware of the latest educational trends and practices. In order to obtain authorization and implement education, all 15 teachers, Program Director Khachik Manukyan and Coordinator Lida Aghajanyan successfully completed the 4-week workshop. Rector of the Polytechnic University Gor Vardanyan awarded certificates to the professional teaching staff and the coordinating team of the NPUA. He emphasized that the International Baccalaureate (IB) program holds significant value in advancing the internationalization of school education at Polytechnic High School. The Rector expressed gratitude to both the IB coordinating team and the teaching staff for their significant accomplishment.

“For many years, we have successfully educated young people who, as a result of their educational journey and deep knowledge, were admitted to a number of prestigious universities in the world. “With the implementation of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and the acquisition of its accreditation, we establish our own place on the international educational landscape,” remarked the Rector.
“The role of this team is profoundly significant in shaping the ongoing endeavors at Polytechnic. The process of founding the NPUA Primary School will start soon: construction works will commence this month. Our goal is to announce admission to grades from 1 to 9 for the 2024-2025 academic year during the January-February period. This means we’re working to keep implementing the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and extending it to the first and second levels of the primary school. This fact confirms once again the current team’s irreplaceable role and crucial contribution to our collective endeavors,” emphasized Rector G.Vardanyan.

According to the Rector, the aim of the NPUA is not to provide intelligence to various international universities, scientific structures, private companies, but to provide high quality education taking the advantages of opportunities.

“We strive to transfer relevant values and knowledge in the educational process, which should become valuable in our Homeland in the future. These values are my motivation, I respond to all questions and problems with this logic. We should be able to create a high-quality education system that will significantly contribute to the development of our country’s economy, not to provide a high-quality educational system that will contribute to the development of other countries. During the whole process of organizing education, we must convey this message to our students,” emphasized the Rector once again congratulating the teachers.

On behalf of the teaching staff and on his own, NPUA Vice-rector for Pre-University Education Elbak Elbakyan thanked NPUA Rector Gor Vardanyan. “The rector has put much effort in the realization of this process to implement the program, because this is very important for the internationalization process of both the school and the University.” The Vice-rector assured that this process will be ongoing and the National Polytechnic University of Armenia will successfully obtain authorization. The workshop was carried out in an online format with a minimum of 16 hours of training. We are sure that the acquired knowledge and skills will be used to the maximum to create analytical, knowledgeable, open-minded, inquiring, caring individuals for the benefit of the development of not only the school, community, but also the development of the whole world, making the world better through education. IB policy and philosophy are in line with the core values and educational principles of our school-the harmonious integration of holistic learning and global perspectives with a student-centered approach. To realize this idea, the Polytechnic team worked with great dedication to create 5 policies of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, which fully comply with the RA law on General Education, the university and school charter, the value system of each of us and, most importantly, will ensure the uninterrupted and high-quality implementation of education for children.

After the certificate awarding ceremony, a workshop was held, during which the university rector and the vice rectors, the invited specialist, who was the former director of Anania Shirakatsi Liceyum High School, IBDP administrator Zarui Ghaltakhchyan, the qualified teaching staff and the administrative staff discussed future plans. According to Zaruhi Ghaltakhchyan, IB policy and philosophy are in line with core values and educational principles of our school: harmonious integration of holistic learning and global perspectives with a student-centered approach. The IBDP will contribute to the academic life of high school and university, thus aiming at consistently ensuring academic integrity and fair assessment systems, inclusiveness and accessibility, developing language skills, promoting international thinking, and encouraging students to become active, empathetic and lifelong learners, fostering the development of critical thinking, open-mindedness and independent research abilities. It will also contribute to a balanced education aimed at students’ intellectual, personal, emotional and social development. The “Diploma” program will ensure access to quality education, continuous improvement, being aligned with the values of the National Polytechnic University, it will bring the university not only international recognition, but also educate citizens of Armenia and of the world armed with the abilities, skills and knowledge to change the world for the better.