Within the framework of the “Modernizing Vocational Education and Training in Agriculture in Armenia” (MAVETA) project, “Strategic Development Agency” (SDA) NGO provided a minibus to Goris State Agricultural College on April 8. This support aims to strengthen the capacities of partner educational institutions and facilitate the organization of dual education programs.

The official handover ceremony was attended by Goris Deputy Mayor  Irina Yolyan, Acting Director of the Agricultural College Anna Torozyan, private sector partners of the MAVETA project, as well as teachers and students.

Welcoming the attendees, MAVETA Project Manager Lilit Hovhannisyan emphasized the importance of effectively implementing dual education, enhancing college-employer collaboration, and highlighted SDA’s long-standing commitment—spanning over two decades—to the development of the Syunik marz.

In her remarks, Deputy Mayor Irina Yolyan highly appreciated SDA’s initiatives for community and regional development, particularly its efforts to modernize agriculture and vocational education and training (VET) in Syunik.

Acting Director Anna Torozyan underscored the vital role of the MAVETA project in building the college’s capacities and acknowledged SDA’s continuous support. On behalf of the college, she presented a Certificate of Appreciation to the organization.

Additionally, within the project, modern equipment was provided to the college’s veterinary laboratory to support hands-on training for students.

The MAVETA project is funded by a broad coalition of international and local organizations led by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), including the Austrian Development Agency, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Government of Armenia, the Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER) NGO, Izmirlian Foundation, the Strategic Development Agency (SDA) NGO and Vanand Agro CJSC.

The project’s implementing partners are the GIZ and HEKS/EPER with the involvement of SDA and the School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (HAFL).

Within the framework of the “Modernizing Vocational Education and Training in Agriculture in Armenia (MAVETA) project, on April 7, a visit of a group of schoolchildren from Griboyedov Secondary School in Armavir region to the almond orchards of Vanand Agro was organized.

During the visit, Lilit Beglaryan, VET consultant for the MAVETA project, presented the MAVETA project and the orchard workers/nut farmers profession introduced at the Echmiadzin Craftsman State School through dual education, and emphasized the school-employer cooperation.

In his speech, the orchard manager and instructor Hayk Stepanyan, emphasized the demand for specialists working in almond and fruit orchards in the labor market, the organization of practical work in the orchard for apprentices studying with dual, as well as underscored the almond cultivation processes and the peculiarities of orchard management.

In the garden, first-year students studying orchard workers/nut farmers profession at the Anton Kochinyan Agricultural College of the Armenian National University of Agriculture through dual education, under the guidance of the lecturer, Eteri Stepanyan, carried out practical work, participating in tree planting.

The MAVETA project is funded by a broad coalition of international and local organizations led by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), including the Austrian Development Agency, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Government of Armenia, the HEKS/EPER NGO, Izmirlian Foundation, the Strategic Development Agency (SDA) NGO and Vanand Agro CJSC.

The project’s implementing partners are the GIZ and HEKS/EPER with the involvement of SDA and the School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (HAFL).