Armenian school-leavers preparing for 'Last Bell'

The traditional "Last Bell" will go today in Armenia’s high schools for the around 30,000 pupils who are leaving school this year.

The ceremony is celebrated differently in capital Yerevan and the regions. Nerkin Karmiraghbyur, a border village in the northern region of Tavush, has 17 school-leavers this year.

The students of the village’s secondary school have prepared for the ceremony with a great splendor, says Nara Papyan, the head of the school’s curriculum department.

“It is incomparably modest than in Yerevan,” she said. “We take the children’s preferences into consideration; they can dance, sing or recite [poetry] if they like. Life in a rural environment is a little bit gloomy, but we wish to make this day a holiday, and we manage that,” he said.

The school’s administrator said the children traditionally like to visit the forest this day and later have a party at school until late evening.

“Everything here is much more intimate; we have no contests of smart dresses as they do in town. We have a real fun,” she said.

Alvard Harutyunuyan, a supervising teacher of the Tatev village’s secondary school, said their school-leaving ceremony will see pupils dedicating poems to their teachers and school.

“We are not too far from the town luxuries. We are human beings too; we do not go to the restaurants but have our ways. I am sorry to say, but we are far from the town’s somewhat vulgar life; we have our own village traditions,” said she, adding that visiting the Tatev monastery and receiving blessings by the local priest is among the good practices that the school traditionally follows every year.

Vagharshak Petrosyan, who is one of the 100 school graduates of Chambarak (Gegharkunik region) high school, said their final year students will this year mark the ceremony in their favorite school, which has been well-decorated in advance.

“We’ll go out of school in the evening to have fun, but each class decides itself what to do,” he said.

The school-leavers in the second largest city of Gyumri have this  to restrict this year's celebrations to the school’s territory. Arpine Arakchyan, who is the principal of the city’s No. 23 secondary school, said their graduates will have a big party after the final exams.

As for the capital city, a big event is planned in Liberty Square at 8:00 pm local time to welcome the school-leavers.