Initiators of DILIJAN International School Project consider implementing it outside Armenia

Initiators of DILIJAN International School Project have sent an open letter to the members of the Public Counci.

The letter is presented below.

"Dear members of the Public Council,

"In light of the public debate surrounding the introduction of amendments to the "Language Law" and educational system, we - the initiators of the DILIJAN International School project, as well as the members of the Board of Trustees, have heard from community representatives with words of both support and rebuke regarding the project to create the DILIJAN International School. We place a high value on civil society, and respect its opinion, so we write to you as to the voice of public opinion.

"The issue pertaining to changing the "Language Law" is very important and affects the interests of all the republic's citizens, although, in our opinion, discussing this law can provide an impetus to a deeper discussion about Armenia's future and its place in the world. Armenia and the Armenian nation in general have several questions to answer in order to determine the model of its future development. Does the nation want to thrive and develop, or simply to survive? Does Armenia want to actively engage global processes, or to remain as an isolated state with its own laws and rules pertaining exclusively to Armenia and paying no attention to events happening beyond its boundaries? Both models of the country's development have the right to exist. However, the selection between these models must be made deliberately. It is also necessary to understand that the choice made by the nation entails certain consequences, both positive and negative.

"Understanding the importance of this topic, back in 2000 a group of businessmen of Armenian origin, residing and working in Armenia as well as in other countries, initiated the project "Armenia 2020," attracting for its realization both world-caliber consultants and prominent independent experts from different countries. Their efforts yielded in 2005 several draft scenarios of Armenia's possible development for the coming twenty years, an expert report on the country's social-economic condition, and a description of the most promising sectors of its economy requiring modernization or creation. These materials were made available to the general public.

"In 2007 the National Competitiveness Fund of Armenia (NCFA) was created by the Government of Armenia to oversee far-reaching state-private partnership projects, its members including Armenian government officials, businessmen from the Armenian Diaspora, and representatives of international financial institutes. In addition, many participants in the Armenia 2020 project used its results to begin realization of private initiatives of different kinds and sizes on Armenian soil as well as abroad.

"Here are just a few of them:

•  Tatev Revival Project with participation by the government, church and private capital. The project includes restoration of the monastery and reinstating monastic life, rebuilding the hotel complex to attract tourists, as well as building an aerial cableway. The opening of the aerial cableway will take place in October 2010. The project should be fully completed by 2016.
•  "Yerevan" magazine began publication in Russian and English in 2005. An Armenian and French language version of the magazine is planned for 2011.
•  Help was rendered in creating a religious-cultural-educational Armenian center in Moscow. Completion is targeted for 2011.o Support was lent to "Perspectives XXI - Music International Festival" for the performers' organization in Armenia of classical music stars Valery Gergiev, Yuri Bashmet, Krzysztof Penderecki and other world-famous performers and conductors.
•  Since 2007, each year 10-12 young artists from Armenia receive grants and financial support for their concert tours.
•  Initiation of the DILIJAN International School.

"Since the last project has elicited the greatest amount of questions and commentaries, we will speak about it in greater detail.

"DILIJAN International School is a private philanthropic project involving no state funding. Planned investments in the project exceed $60 million, which does not include money from the fund to support talented children from impoverished families. The term "philanthropic" means the investors will not earn any profit, nor do they intend to return the money they have invested in the project. We succeeded in assembling an authoritative Board of Trustees consisting of famous and respected people who are ready to assist in implementing the project.

"DILIJAN International School is an international-caliber boarding school for children from different countries. By 2020, plans call for total enrollment of 600 children aged 13 to 18, about 200 of whom will be citizens of Armenia. It should be noted that approximately 80% of the students from Armenia will study for free under scholarships from charity organizations or individuals. As for the school in general, during the first year of operations we aim for scholarships to comprise 60% of enrollment - gifted children from across the world. The availability of scholarships allows us to accept talented children regardless of their parents' wealth and position in society. This is principally important for us, as our school isn't elitist in the customary sense of the word, but in the distorted one. The elitism of our students is determined by their intellectual abilities but not their parents' prosperity.

"Upon completion of the school, its students will be issued an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. As of today, this is likely the most methodologically advanced and well known international program recognized by the majority of world universities. In other words, the IB diploma opens the doors to the best higher learning institutes in different countries. Education at the DILIJAN School will take place in English, as this is one of the three working languages with Spanish and French in which all the academic literature under the IB system is written, and there is a wide base of teachers possessing the corresponding skills and experience. It is also planned that the school's students, regardless of their ethnic origin and country of citizenship, will study several foreign languages, including Armenian. We view it as one of our primary goals to have Armenian included in the list of IB languages at all language levels (from native speaker to beginner level), opening the possibility to teach it at any levels at any of the world's 3000 IB schools.

"Popularizing the teaching of Armenian to Armenians and foreigners alike is a very serious task, requiring considerable intellectual and financial investments. Among the teachers we envision foreign and local instructors, who will undergo recruitment and special training, and an internship in foreign schools.

"During the summer it is planned to organize a camp on the school grounds for children wishing to visit their historic country of origin, study Armenian and make new friends while participating in sport and experiencing Armenian culture.

"The question facing the majority of the school's potential students isn't the loss of Armenian language, but acquiring it, since today these children go to study in Russia, England, Switzerland and America. We would like for our children, people of Armenian origin, to have the opportunity to receive an outstanding education precisely in Armenia, to study its culture and history and learn the language of their ancestors. The school's students from the Republic of Armenia will study native language and native literature under a program confirmed by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Armenia for the country's general education schools, which will allow them to successfully enroll in Armenian universities. We also plan to enroll students of a non-Armenian ethnic origin, who will not only have the opportunity to receive an education that will help them realize their potential, but to gain familiarity with an ancient culture and language. This is an extremely ambitious task to which we are firmly committed.

"We are deeply concerned about the question of how the young generation of the six million Diaspora - our children born outside of and having never lived in Armenia - will consider themselves. Our children are assimilating, and we can't help but be alarmed by this. It is the school's mission to create strong, long-term ties based on the principles of inter-ethnic tolerance with an Armenian coloring and receiving an education of the highest academic caliber. We wonder how to motivate our children to study Armenian language, which as of today is neither the language they use to communicate with family, nor at school, nor with friends. For this reason, we are investing in a program for studying Armenian under the IB system. It is also the reason why we plan to teach Armenian history, its literature and arts, and we also want to train our students in ancient Armenian crafts.

"Our goal is that the words 'Armenia' and 'Armenian' will not only be associated with people perishing during the Genocide and earthquakes, conjuring not pity and sympathy, but a feeling of pride for victories, achievements and the successes of our graduates in the fields of science, culture and art. We want to attract people of non-Armenian origin, who are free to choose any location on the planet, to study, live, work and raise their children. We are spending our time, resources, talents and money so that Armenia becomes an appealing and comfortable place for our children, a place where Armenians and non-Armenians will come to and live, feeling at home in our hospitable country. Precisely for this reason, we are investing in the creation of infrastructure and conditions in which teachers from different countries can live comfortably, as well as for raising the qualifications of teachers from Armenia.

"Unfortunately, we have to admit that because of an unfavorable combination of circumstances, our project has met with a negative reaction among the progressive and outspoken members of Armenian society. The wave of indignation caused by the Republic of Armenia Government's suggested amendments to the law "On language" has provoked a negative attitude toward schools that teach in foreign languages. This has gradually led to the point that the DILIJAN school project, which received numerous positive reviews after the official ceremony where the Armenian President planted the symbolic "tree of knowledge," is cast over by unfavorable public opinion. Over a relatively brief period, before it even started and became established, the project acquired an opposition. We should mention that the legislative amendments which were the reason for the negative context surrounding the DILIJAN project are not a necessary precondition to its successful realization, however in its current reading the law makes it difficult for the children of Armenia to obtain IB diplomas at our school in case they desire to continue their education at the universities in Republic of Armenia.

"At present, we are regrettably seriously considering the suspension of work on the project, as it is our belief that even without these additional obstacles to the successful realization of such a complex initiative, and even provided the full support of government and society, it will require an incredible amount of effort to convince parents to send their children to a country about which they know very little and which they do not conceive of as a place to live and receive an education. In the current situation we do not view it as feasible to develop the project, as it is fundamentally incorrect to create a school in an atmosphere that rejects it.

"We are deeply convinced that the role of education will increase in the XXI century, which is why we consider the creation of this kind of school a vitally important task. True, it's possible that today's Armenia does not require the kind of school outlined in the concept approved by the school's Board of Trustees. For this reason, at the next Board session in October, we will raise the question of realizing this project not on the Armenian territory. However, we do believe that Armenia will grow and prosper, and no matter what, we intend to facilitate this process by implementing projects in Armenia.

"As the body that has the duty of announcing public opinion, the consolidated view of the Public Council will help us to make a reasonable decision regarding the future of the project."