HY RU EN
Asset 3

Loading

End of content No more pages to load

Your search did not match any articles

Sona Avagyan

MIT Student: Universities in Armenia Lack Proper "Learning Environment"

In the twenty years since   independence, only five students from Armenia have been accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 24 year-old Tigran Sloyan is one of them.

He has much to say regarding the state of higher education in Armenia today – most of it not encouraging.

Every year 100-120 foreign students, 10% of the overall new enrolment, are accepted into the prestigious school. If necessary, MIT covers their tuition and boarding expenses.

Tigran graduated from MIT this summer with a B.A. in mathematics and will be pursuing his Masters in Programming at his alma mater starting this fall.

Tigran decided to attend MIT after graduating from high school in Armenia.

He says the reason was a no-brainer – there was no university or college in Armenia where he could seriously apply his skills and actually attain a high quality education.

“Today, there is no need for very good professors or strong teaching methods. It’s all available over the internet. You can even listen to MIT or Harvard lectures via the internet. What’s sorely lacking in Armenia is a true learning environment where students are encouraged to study. When you go to university, the environment in which learning is the top ideal just isn’t there,” notes Tigran.

The student says that when he walks by universities in Armenia, he sees many young men standing outside who seem more interested in who is the best dressed, who drives what car and who has the prettiest girlfriend.

“Such things don’t exist in MIT. There you are taught to love learning. Everyone is in competition to be the best student. In Armenia, it’s the opposite. Someone who is a good student is told that they will become a professor. The one saying this boasts he will become an oligarch. And who enjoys the most status in Armenia? When I was a student in Armenia, I preferred to study at home and not waste my time going to school where I’d invariably wind up playing football with friends or getting into fights.”

Tigran doesn’t believe that in order for the educational system in Armenia to improve, the society as a whole must first change.

He says such changes for the better should be implemented in the education sector and that the top priority is to create a proper learning environment in the universities and colleges.

“You have to start somewhere. In practical terms it would be very difficult to change Armenia as a whole in order to improve the educational sector. Rather, let’s start small and improve the situation at the universities and hope that the changes will spread throughout society.”

As a top student, Tigran has already received job offers from companies like Google and Facebook, but he’s decided to go for his Masters.

“Hey, MIT is a school where you really want to spend time,” he says.

The young Armenian believes that the fact that he won two silver medals at the International Mathematics Olympics, the only individual from Armenia to do so since 2000, played a large role in getting accepted at MIT.

He says that the government of Armenia must revise its disinterested attitude toward various international Olympiads.

When it comes to the mathematics Olympiad, Armenia lags behind its neighbours – Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan – because those governments are actively involved in preparing students.

“In Iran, the team to be sent is organized a year in advance and gets intense training. That’s why it’s almost always in the top ten. In Armenia, the team is put together just a month before the competition. Sometimes they train and sometimes they don’t. One month just isn’t enough time to prepare for such an event.”

Right now there are three students from Armenia pursuing their B.A. at MIT.

Tigran says they all would like to return to Armenia in a few years but that presently the possibility for them to attain top-level educational achievement in Armenia is non-existent.

Two of the three students are seriously into physics, but in Armenia there are no labs or professors that can prepare them to be groundbreakers in the field.

Tigran’s goal is to set up his own firm in the field of advanced technology that will operate in the Armenian and overall CIS market.

He is aware of the risks involved when it comes to launching a commercial enterprise in Armenia and says it’s a long-term project of his.

Tigran is also aware that the chances of him returning to Armenia fade the more he remains in the U.S.

He agrees that the move back will be difficult but hopes that he will eventually return to Armenia one day.

“I would never want to launch something big in the States that would propel this country forward. It’s not my government and I don’t feel like a citizen of the government. You remain an outsider no matter how much you dream of making it big in America.”

Tigran concludes by saying that his goal is to start a business; he’s done the research and has a good idea what’s involved.

When it comes to fuzzier and amorphous things like dreams – it’s a whole other matter.

“I guess you can say that my dream is to see a strong Republic of Armenia. When I feel I have acquired the potential to lend a hand, I will surely give it my best shot.”

Comments (2)

PU
The one institute I'm thinking of is the Agribusiness Teaching Center, where Georgians and Armenians study economics, finance, management and marketing. The department for college juniors and seniors was established at the Armenian Ag University by Texas A&M University nearly 11 years ago with funding from USDA. Its graduates are either employed (all except maybe about 10 of them right now because they're either serving in the military or staying at home to raise their children.) There are also some 25 or so either studying or just finished studying for either master's or PhDs in Europe or US. Almost a year ago, the ATC also started a master's in agribusiness. 99% of the faculty are either ex-pats or Armenians, educated in Europe or US, and continually updating their methods, lectures, research and so on. Students receive textbooks - new ones - and have theory as well as practical experience and applications in real-life settings. There are also fieldtrips to view what's going on in Armenian agriculture today, and to see some of the country and culture that mostly Yerevan kids don't have a chance to see. Friday afternoon special lectures are conducted by visiting agriculturalists (such as ag economists or Extension horticulturalists or Armenian farmers from US), local CEOs (such as Ralph Yerikian from VivaCell), returning graduates who now have their master's or PhDs, alumni who have interesting jobs in many spheres in Armenia, alumni who have participated in the European Volunteer Service, etc. etc. etc. The boys attend classes, too, not just the girls -- though not more than a handful of boys do go outside for a smoke between classes.
Adeyemo Tosin Opeyemi
Am a nigerian,i wish 2 study in MIT,wat are the requirement for international students and how do i apply?how do i get there?

Write a comment

If you found a typo you can notify us by selecting the text area and pressing CTRL+Enter