Armenia

Last update: March, 2023

The main goals of state policy in the field of cultural education are:

• Regulation of the legislative field of artistic education
• Identifying the creative potential of gifted children and ensuring the full implementation of that potential
• Ensuring the normal operation of artistic educational institutions by replenishing the material and technical base and musical instruments, implementing educational works, developing and publishing new educational programmes and manuals.
• Ensuring access to learning within extracurricular art education and aesthetic education
• Implementation of training and requalification of specialists in the field of culture by studying international experience and introducing new professions in accordance with current requirements in the field of culture.
• Promoting the activities of young creators by implementing debut projects
• Inclusion of children with disabilities, and those who are socially insecure, or without parental care in cultural education.

The allocations received from the RA state budget are directed to the following programmes:

• "General education programme" ("Elementary specialized general education", "Basic specialized general education", "Secondary specialized general education", "Scholarship for children of specialized general educational institutions at the level of secondary general education", "Reimbursement of textbook fees for children of socially disadvantaged and border families" measures), which are carried out by Yerevan P. Secondary Music Vocational School named after Tchaikovsky.
• "Preliminary (vocational) and secondary professional education" programme ("Provision of student allowances for secondary vocational education" and the "Scholarship for students receiving secondary vocational education" events) is implemented by Yerevan State College of Dance.
• "Extracurricular education" programme ("Extracurricular education" event) is implemented by the "Children's special creative centre" state organization.

A number of targeted programmes are being implemented with state support:

• The programme "Development and publication of educational literature for music and art schools". Within the period of 2008-2019 about 310 published manuals were distributed free of charge to the educational institutions of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh.
• The programme "Purchase of musical instruments for music and art schools" is aimed at the creation and continuous replenishment of a permanent collection of musical instruments. Within 2013-2019, 591 musical instruments purchased with the allocations of the programme were provided to gifted young musicians studying in music and art schools of RA provinces, and students of newly formed professional classes.
• The "Teaching of national, string and brass instruments in music and art schools" programme provides tuition reimbursement for 2,361 students of 146 music and art schools of the country every year.
• The funds provided by the programme "Educational works in music and art schools" are directed to the organization of educational and practical support of students and teachers in 207 music, art, fine arts and dance schools operating in the country through the leading specialists of the field.
• "Support to the development and improvement of professional abilities of gifted young musicians-performers" programme aims to identify and support talented musicians-performers aged 11-20 in the fields of "Piano", "Violin" and "Cello". The programme includes a complex series of activities, the implementation of which contributes to ensuring the competitiveness of the Armenian performing arts school in the international arena and forming the foundations of a normal generational change in the field of classical performing arts.

Many international and republican youth competitions, festivals, joint concerts, exhibitions and other events are held in Yerevan and the regions of the Republic of Armenia, including:

• "New Names" international festival of young musicians-performers. The goals are: identifying talent, supporting "new" names and musicians-performers, creating favorable conditions for young musicians with the opportunity to demonstrate their best professional qualities and express their musical performance abilities.
• Republican competition of young composers after Edward Mirzoyan. The goal is to provide an opportunity for young composers to publicly present their works.
• "We and our province" regional culture days in Yerevan for children and youth.

The programme is aimed at revitalization, promotion and development of cultural life in the provincial cities and cultural exchange between provincial cities and the capital.

• "Sister-schools" programme of cooperation between music and art schools of Yerevan and RA provinces. It is aimed at the promotion of the process of cooperation, acquisition of practical skills and exchange of experience between students and teachers of music and art schools in Yerevan and RA provinces. The project will also contribute to the balanced development of culture, ensuring access and affordability of artistic education. Twenty music and art schools from Yerevan and the provinces with 500 participants are beneficiaries of this programme.
• "REALBOARDS" educational programme for teenagers, aimed at giving the children of the regions of Armenia the chance to get theoretical and practical knowledge about the main professions of film production: screenwriter, director, cameraman and all technical and other creative professions.

Different educational programmes are also implemented in the fields of theatre, dance and fine arts.

Inclusive creative events and targeted educational projects are implemented in the field, aimed at the full inclusion of vulnerable groups in cultural life, ensuring the conditions for their further creative development and advancement, creating opportunities for self-expression, as well as creating an atmosphere of tolerance in society.

With the support of the Ministry and after the selection of the professional committee, talented young performers participate in international youth competitions, festivals and master classes held abroad. Master classes are also held in Armenia by leading specialists and performers, invited from abroad. Since 2019, grant programmes in the field of cultural education have been implemented through widely announced competitions.

In general, these programmes prove to be effective, however, some systemic shortcoming are still there and not in every school or educational institution is their implementation being done correctly and effectively.

Last update: March, 2023

Art, predominantly drawing and applied arts, is being taught at secondary school level from first to seventh grades. Lessons in theory, history of music and basic singing are scarce. No playing musical instruments are taught in public secondary schools.  Instead, other educational institutions such as houses of cultures and art schools offer a wide range of art specialties and musical skills. Most of them have charges, but the fees are not very high and are generally available to the lower middle-class families.  

According the defined culture development vision of the government, a number of programmes promoting the connection between education, culture and cultural education are being persistently implemented in the sector since 2019:

• The "Subscription System" programme, the goal of which is to increase the involvement of students in attending cultural events. The programme gives free opportunity to visit cultural institutions for school-aged children.
• "Your art at school" programme, the purpose of which is to fill the gap in "cultural education", to increase interest in reading, classical music and fine arts, to promote the development of critical, analytical and creative thinking in educational institutions in the fields of music, fine arts, literature, to facilitate young people to meet modern artists, to raise the aesthetic taste and civic consciousness of schoolchildren.  

On the initiative of the National Academic Theatre named after Gabriel Sundukyan, since 2018-2019, the National Academic Theatre named after Gabriel Sundukyan has been implementing the "Class + Classical" theatre educational programme.

Last update: March, 2023

There are a lot of opportunities to receive higher arts education in Armenia in different specialties of art and design. The following institutions provide degrees in the arts:

1. State Art University
2. State University of theatre and cinematography
3. State Conservatory
4. Yerevan St. Terlemezyan State College of Fine Arts
5. Gyumri State Music College named after Kara-Murza
6. Yerevan R. Melikyan State Music College
7. Yerevan State University of Architecture
8. State Pedagogical University

Also, art studies are taught in the Yerevan State University as an academic and research discipline. All these higher education institutions have been reformed in correspondence with the Bologna process (since 2010).

Last update: March, 2023

Out-of school arts and cultural education is provided by different private, religious or community cultural organizations and for profit entities, many of which have inherited the infrastructures of Soviet houses of culture or reproduce them. However, most of them are concentrated in big cities and villages. Many regional towns and villages are deprived of such possibilities because of dilapidated or eliminated infrastructures.

Currently there are a number of community infrastructural development projects, subsidized by the government that are focused on renovation of Houses of Cultures and turning them into multifunctional cultural centres, able to provide out-of-school cultural education to children and adults.

Also, the cultural project of revitalization of Community Cultural Centres is implemented by the “My Step” foundation in order to decentralize culture and overcome the professional gap between the capital and regions. The project envisaged the components of renovation, training and capacity building for 9 regional cultural centres. The programme was due to finish[1].

[1] https://old.mystep.foundation/en/news/3053/

Last update: March, 2023

The number of RA secondary professional and vocational education institutions has increased compared to the previous decades. Educational institutions of culture and art are mainly concentrated in Yerevan, with a number of fine art schools exists in marzes.

Cultural and vocational education institutions include:

• Yerevan State Humanitarian-Technical College
• Yerevan State Humanitarian College
• Yerevan R. Melikyan State Music College
•  Yerevan A. State Music and Pedagogical College named after Babajanyan
• Yerevan St. Terlemezyan State College of Fine Arts
• State Choreography college
• Gyumri State Music College named after Kara-Murza
• M. of Vanadzor Tavrizyan State College of Arts
• Gavar State Music College
• Dilijan State College of Arts

Students graduating from these colleges are specialized in practicing arts without academic degrees. They can continue their education in higher art education or other institutions (see chapter 5.3), or start their careers as practicing art professionals.