On 10 March 2020 in the framework of Erasmus+ BOOST project study tour in Sweden the National Information Center for Academic Recognition and Mobility (ArmENIC) together with the Armenian delegation visited the Swedish ENIC-NARIC. During one-day meeting the director of ArmENIC, Gayane Harutyunyan presented the Armenian Education system and the participants had an opportunity to discuss some peculiarities of Armenian qualifications. Then Erik Johansson, the Credential evaluator of Swedish ENIC-NARIC presented the Swedish Higher education system focusing on some challenges they have nowadays. The meeting was very productive giving both Armenian and Swedish Centers the chance to discuss once more some “shades” of recognition procedure and national qualifications.
On 9-13 March 2020 BOOST consortium partners from Armenia participated in a study tour hosted by KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The aim of the visit was to raise awareness on research and innovation in higher education.
On 21 January 2020 the dissemination conference was held on the internationalization of higher education in the framework of the Erasmus+ BOOST project – Boosting Armenian Universities: Internationalisation Strategy and Marketing.
On 4-6 December 2019 in the framework of NACAR project the representative of the University of South-Eastern Norway together with the representatives from the Armenian two partner universities (Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi and Yerevan Brusov State University) and from the National Information Center for Academic Recogniton and Mobility (ArmENIC) were involved in work-shadowing regarding the admission procedure of international students in Armenia and Norway as well as recognition challenges concerning it.
On October 3, 2017, a seminar on “Refugees and Recognition of Qualifications”, took place within the scope of the recognition of higher education for refugees and displaced persons. The seminar was intended to present the current challenges of the qualification of the refugees and present approaches to overcoming them. The seminar was organized by the ArmEnic and Norwegian (NOKUT) staff members; also included representatives from the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Diaspora, the State Migration Service, universities, employers’ unions, international organizations operating in Armenia and relevant NGOs. During the meeting, a toolkit was developed and presented within the framework of the “Refugees and Recognition” program, along with the official presentation of the refugee qualification passports to those Syrian-Armenians who had successfully passed the test.
On October 2, 2017, the ArmEnic’s Office conducted its first methodology test for the Refugee Qualification Passports. The testing was carried out on the basis of a previously developed methodology and was conducted by the representatives of the Armenian ENIC-NARIC and Norwegian (NOKUT) centers. The test mainly involved Syrian-Armenian refugees whose education or documentation was either missing or partially missing. At the end of the test, two out of four Syrian-Armenians were given qualification passports, as the others were unable to submit sufficiently approved qualifications.
The first study visit to the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology was held on June 7-9, 2017 within the framework of Erasmus+ BOOST project – Boosting Armenian Universities: Internationalisation Strategy and Marketing. The purpose of the study visit was to get acquainted with the project participants’ experience and practice of internationalization in EU countries, discuss further functions related to project work. 23 representatives from the universities in Armenia, Spain, Sweden, Estonia, the Ministry of Education and Science and the ArmEnic participated in the study tour. During the three-day visit, representatives of the EU partner universities presented to the Armenian side the process of internationalization of their universities, the issues and their solutions. The Royal Institution partners detailed the key areas of internationalization of higher education in Sweden, the definition of internationalization and its indicators: incoming and outgoing students, contracts, etc. Discussions were held on the importance of the process of internationalization of HEIs in Armenia and possible problems. The American University of Armenia, which is responsible for the dissemination the work, presented the preliminary look of the website for the project, as well as discussed future plans for the project. During the visit, participants visited the Swedish Institute, where the staff reflected on the student exchange programs, foreign policy, international education goals, as well as scholarships offered by their institution. At the end of the meeting all the participants discussed the results of the visit and made conclusions. The study visit was summarized and planned for the upcoming works and their deadlines. The next meeting of the Consortium member states will be held on November 20-21 In Yerevan.
