On February 13, the representatives of the National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia and Medical College Named after Pharmacist-Artist Levon Sargsyan went on a study visit to Gyumri to get acquainted with the activities of Gyumri Craftsman College N4, conduct an info session on Erasmus+ “Capacity building in Vocational Education and Training” Key Action and participate in the interim presentation of the Technasium project organized by Alvan Tsaghik social-educational center.

The first part of the day was dedicated to visiting Gyumri Craftsman College N4. The representatives of the National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia got acquainted with the fields and current activities of the college and discussed the ideas of the projects planned in the frames of the Erasmus+ “Capacity building in Vocational Education and Training” Key Action.

Afterwards, an information session on Erasmus+ “Capacity building in Vocational Education and Training” Key Action was held at the college, which was attended by representatives of about 6 VET institutions from Shirak region. During the meeting, participants were informed about the conditions and application processes of the Key Action. 

Then, NEO representatives participated in the mid-term presentation of the pilot project of Dutch project-based teaching methodology “Technasium” organized by Alvan Tsaghik social-educational center at the National Polytechnic University of Armenia. During the presentation, student groups from 6 schools in Shirak region presented the results of the research assigned within the framework of the project and discussed their future tasks. Representatives of the Armenian VET sector also took part in the meeting, getting to know the head of the Alvan Tsaghik Foundation, René Beunk, who presented the advantages of the Technasium method and shared his ideas on implementing a project on this method in frames of Erasmus+ “Capacity building in Vocational Education and Training” Key Action.

The study visit was concluded by a visit to Alvan Tsaghik social-educational centre, where the head of the Alvan Tsaghik Foundation, René Beunk presented the rooms of the building and teaching materials brought by Dutch partners. 

As a result of the meetings, Armenian VET institutions

– were informed about the activities of partner VET institutions,

– learnt about the details of the application procedure for the Erasmus+ “Capacity building in Vocational Education and Training” Key Action,

– got acquainted with the project-based teaching method “Technasium” and with René Beunk, the head of Alvan Tsaghik Foundation, and

– discussed the ideas of applying to the Erasmus+ “Capacity building in Vocational Education and Training” Key Action.

The photos from the meeting and PowerPoint presentation of the info session on Erasmus+ “Capacity building in Vocational Education and Training” Key Action are available below.