Teach For Armenia, American University of Armenia partner to expand educational opportunities

Teach For Armenia and the American University of Armenia partner to expand educational opportunities

Teach For Armenia and the American University of Armenia (AUA) have launched their partnership to expand educational opportunities for Teach For Armenia staff. Teach For Armenia will provide its employees tuition scholarships to pursue graduate degrees and certificate programs at AUA. As one of Armenia’s leading universities, AUA is thrilled to support this initiative by offering TFA staff the opportunity to pursue one of its graduate programs in business, economics, the humanities, social sciences, health sciences and engineering.

“At Teach For Armenia, we believe that people are our greatest resource and that there is no greater investment than our people. As an organization, it is our responsibility to provide our staff with opportunities to grow professionally and personally,” said Larisa Hovannisian, founder and CEO of Teach For Armenia.

Founded in 2013, Teach For Armenia recruits and trains recent college graduates and professionals to teach in rural communities in Armenia and Artsakh for a period of two years. In this way, the organization works to alleviate Armenia’s critical teacher shortage and increase the quality of education nationwide. For nearly a decade, Teach For Armenia has partnered with local universities to allow program participants to earn a master’s degree in education in parallel with their teaching placements.

“We are pleased to partner with Teach For Armenia on this initiative,” said AUA president Dr. Karin Markides. “By offering its members the opportunity to benefit from higher education, Teach For Armenia is doing something which should be very much celebrated.”

By collaborating with institutions of higher education in Armenia, Teach For Armenia seeks to create educational opportunities for its staff and program participants. In September 2022, Teach For Armenia and Yerevan State University’s Center for Pedagogy and Education Development will launch a master’s program in Teacher Leadership for Educational Equity. By offering high-quality instruction online, we will lower the barrier to pursuing a graduate degree in education and increase the number of people entering the profession. The program emphasizes the need for system-wide transformation through innovative teaching practices and leadership in the classroom.