Catholicos: Armenian church history should remain compulsory in school

PanARMENIAN.Net - Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II said Friday, September 11 that the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports has not made "sufficient efforts" to cooperate with the Armenian Apostolic Church on matters of education.

At a ceremony of blessing employees of the field of education at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Catholicos said he is worried about the exclusion of History of the Armenian Church courses from the list of compulsory curriculum subjects.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Armenian Apostolic Church have had somewhat tense relations as Minister Arayik Harutyunyan does not think History of the Armenian Church should be a separate compulsory subject at school, but instead be included in the course of the History of the Armenian People.

According to the Catholicos, the reforms should be based on "the opinions and proposals of the professional community."

"We are confident that the History of the Armenian Church should be taught separately. When studying it, schoolchildren learn not only about the history of the Armenian Church, but also the biblical covenants, Christian values and church rituals. We call ourselves Christians, which means we should know our Church," the Catholicos said.