RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Artur Martirosyan participated today in the online meeting of Armenian schoolchildren with the crew of "Shenzhou-15" spacecraft, which was organized by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in RA, to deepen the knowledge of aerospace science and technology.
The event was attended by Fan Yong, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Armenia, Arkady Papoyan, Head of the Foreign Relations and Diaspora Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other representatives of the embassy.
During the online meeting, the Chinese astronauts in the spaceship communicated with schoolchildren from the countries of the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization," including Armenia, who told about their experience in space and answered the schoolchildren's questions. About 60 students of grades 8-12 from three Yerevan schools participated in the event.
According to Artur Martirosyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the RA, the online meeting with the astronauts is another opportunity to reaffirm the Armenian-Chinese friendship, carried out within the framework of continuous cooperation.
"Approximately 60 children participating in the event will join the space crew, and this is a wonderful opportunity for them to gain professional orientation and have bigger dreams," said Artur Martirosyan.
The deputy minister emphasized that the program is entirely consistent with the logic of the development of the BTCM direction and general education reforms. "We want to push our children towards science by creating the right conditions so that they develop the flight of their mind and try to make it happen."
According to the deputy minister, Armenia has started a dialogue process with China's "Shanghai Cooperation Organization" since 2016 and has the status of a partner country.
"This is a good opportunity to emphasize our role in that organization," said Artur Martirosyan and continued, "Guided by the philosophy of university autonomy, we encourage introducing advanced programs, for example, using Erasmus+ and other tools."
According to Fan Yong, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of China to Armenia, the event is an excellent opportunity for Armenian youth to get acquainted with China's achievements in space travel and gain new knowledge.
"Armenia and China are good partners, so we want to share China's development experience with Armenia. This will contribute to increasing the interest of Armenian youth in space travel, which will also contribute to the country's development in the future.
The ambassador emphasized that similar events will also promote the development of Armenian-Chinese relations. "Armenia has already launched a satellite into space, so I think that knowledge in this field is also essential for Armenia. I thank the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for supporting us. Thanks to both parties, I think we will be able to generate greater interest in China and Chinese culture among Armenian youth."
