12^th December, 2019, Yerevan: Beeline and the Armenian office of the British Council announced the launch of the project "Coding Skills: Linking the Present and the Future", aimed at  developing digital and other key skills, including critical and analytical thinking, creativity and team work among students through additional lessons.

As part of the program implemented with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, programmed Micro:bit micro-devices will be introduced in three high schools of Yerevan, which will make the educational process more interactive, interesting and effective. Along with the equipment, appropriate resources will be provided for teaching and learning.

“Coding is the basis of programming, a profession which today is in great demand in the labor market. It can guarantee good work and income and is also useful for people with other backgrounds. As part of our corporate social responsibility, we are pleased to cooperate with the British Council and to share rather valuable and important knowledge with the Armenian youth through this amazing method," said Andrey Pyatakhin, Chief Executive Officer of Beeline Armenia.

The Director of the Armenian office of the British Council Arevik Saribekyan said: “Coding is one of the 21^st century skills, and is in demand in any professional field. This skill will promote critical and analytical thinking among students to help them find innovative solutions to current problems. The initiative is important as it is aligned with the priorities set by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, including introduction of technologies into the school curriculum”.

Arevik Anapiosyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, emphasized the importance of introducing technology in schools and the appropriate training of teachers to achieve more interactive and advanced methods of the learning process, since through such extracurricular courses it would be possible to develop digital and other skills, critical and analytical thinking, creativity and teamwork among high school students.

“Since this program is a pilot one, we expect that the introduction of this tool will be an excellent foster for developing international cooperation through coding between Armenian students and their peers from different countries,” said Arevik Anapiosyan.

As part of the pilot project, 300 students  from selected high schools will have the opportunity to take part in extra-curricular introductory classes on coding, and IT teachers in beneficiary schools will be offered training courses on the use of micro:bit tools before starting the lessons.

Upon completion of the project, competitions at both school and interschool levels will be organized for graduates called “Coding  Challenge”, which will provide them the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge acquired.

The Project lifespan is from January till May 2020.