This event is in-person and online.
Join us for a conversation on Building Educational Justice in Rural Armenia. As a fundamental human right, education is essential in childhood development. A quality, safe and undisrupted learning environment provides physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection that can sustain and enrich lives.
In the context of Armenia's border schools, pupils and staff have to face unpredictable attacks and intimidation tactics by Azeri soldiers across the border, aimed at making them leave their lands. Rural schools gather and demonstrate extraordinary resilience and thirst for life within their tight-knit and cooperative communities.
Talin Clark, Marianna Asatryan, Tatev Karapetyan, and Astghik Mnatsakanyan will give an overview of the educational landscape of Armenia. Presentations about Oxford Armenia Foundation, Books for Hope and Teach for Armenia non-governmental activities will follow. We will end with a discussion on the challenges brought by conflict, displacement and poverty on children's learning journeys and how our efforts impact educational justice, quality learning and well-being.
PRESENTERS:
Talin Clark is a sustainability advocate with a BA in Cognitive Psychology from University of Paris and BSc in Environmental Sustainability from University of London, Birkbeck. Talin worked in digital communication before turning to teaching special educational needs and languages. Passionate about rural Armenia, she founded Books for Hope to bring educational equity to rural schools. She ran the Paris marathon 2021 to raise funds for Armenia Tree Project and is a supporting trekking member of the Transcaucasian Trail.
Marianna Asatryan (MA Oxford University) is the founder and chair of trustees of Oxford Armenia Foundation (OAF), a UK charity working on enhancing educational opportunities for children in rural Armenia. An educational assessment specialist, she has over twenty years of experience, including higher education policy and practice and teaching in comprehensive schools in Armenia, Greece and the UK. Marianna is the Senior member of the Oxford University Armenian Society (OUAS) and director of the Oxford Armenian Choir.
Tatev Karapetyan (Yerevan State University, Sociology) has been working in non-formal education since 2018 with local and international educational organizations as a youth worker and trainer. She joined “Teach for Armenia” as a Leadership Development Manager, coaching and supporting Teacher-leaders in the most remote border communities of Artsakh and southern regions of Armenia.
Astghik Mnatsakanyan graduated from Yerevan Busrov State University with a Masters degree in teaching Foreign Languages. Astghik worked in a village school for 2 years in the Armavir region and currently works at “Teach For Armenia” as a Leadership Development Manager, supporting teachers during their two-year program.
