The approval of the Mission East special ed curricula is a landmark for Armenian children with learning difficulties.The 8th November 2006 was a day of big celebration for Raffi Doudaklian, Mission East’s Special Education Coordinator in Armenia. It is the day on which he received the official approval by the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science for the new school curricula for children with learning difficulties in Armenia.
“We knew that the formal document had been prepared,” says Raffi Doudaklian.
“But to actually see it signed as an official decree is just fantastic – we have worked so hard for this moment for so long!”
The new curricula has been developed by a working group of Armenian teachers under the guidance of an international specialist, within the framework of Mission East’s project ‘Towards Education For All’. Teacher training in special and inclusive schools means that the new curricula will be applied with methods that support an appropriate learning experience for students with learning difficulties. These students have long been undervalued and have not had access to an education that would respond to their particular needs or help them realize their potential, which would eventually facilitate their integration in society.
Now, thanks to the project, they not only have the legal right to an education, but the curricula that put this into practice is approved and being introduced in all inclusive and special schools.
“The official approval for the curricula is not just a big success for the project, it is a real landmark for children with special needs in Armenia. It means that the achievements of the project in supporting educational reform for children with learning difficulties will now be applied, not just in our project pilot schools, but across the country – there is no turning back,” says Raffi Doudaklian.
