Bradford College

College Welcomes Armenian Delegation

Bradford College is delighted to host a delegation from Armenia, for a three day trip to the city.  The visit is in conjunction with a British Council funded project, which has been running since June 2008.  The aim of the project is to assist the Yerevan State College of Informatics with the production of a two year programme in Mechatronics, a multidisciplinary subject combining Mechanical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, for delivery in Armenia.

Engineering Lecturer, George Salmon explained:  “The purpose of the project is to develop a new programme in Mechatronics; initially for the Yerevan State College of Informatics, which may eventually become the model for a national programme.”

George continued: “We’re delighted to host the delegation here in Bradford and to continue the joint collaboration between the two institutions.” George added: “It’s nice to get the opportunity to repay some of the outstanding hospitality shown to us in recent visits to Yerevan.”

The group of high level representatives flying into the UK included Mr Artak Aghbalyan from the Armenia Ministry of Education and Science and senior members of staff from the Yerevan State College of Informatics, Mr Andrey Movsisyan and Mrs Haykandukht Danielyan.

Commenting on the joint collaboration between the two institutions, Mr Artak Aghbalyan from the Armenia Ministry of Education and Science said: “The aim of the Ministry is to improve European projects and educational systems in Armenia. It gives me great pleasure to witness the joint collaboration between Bradford College and Yerevan State College of Informatics.  This collaboration will help to improve the international practice of delivering such programmes.”

Speaking about the benefits of the joint venture, Lecturer George explained:  “We can learn a lot from each other - it’s a two way exchange of information, and of course in education there’s always something to learn.  They have a totally different set up to us, their resources are different, the college structure is different and their teaching methods are different.  This is a great opportunity to widen our teaching and learning experience.”

The Armenian group were given a warm welcome by staff at Bradford College and treated to a tour of the College’s world class facilities, followed by a visit to the WOW Academy to experience the centre’s cutting-edge state of the art technology.  The delegation also attended a civic reception with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress and had a guided tour of City Hall, before rounding off the trip with a visit to the award winning Media Museum and IMAX.

Speaking about the productive and enjoyable trip to Bradford College, Head of I.T, Mrs Danielyan said:  “We would like to thank you for the warm welcome we’ve received. We hope that this trip will further strengthen the productive collaboration between the two institutions.  This programme will make an important contribution to Armenian education and the local and national economy.”

Bradford College and the Yerevan State College of Informatics have joined forces to create these innovative new course units, with staff from Bradford College visiting Yerevan to set up the project.  This was followed by a visit from the Principal of Yerevan State College of Informatics, Mr Artashes Abrahamyan and British Council representative Mr Narek Tovmasyan to Bradford College in July last year.

Lecturer Maria Emmott was one of the Bradford College staff who travelled to Yerevan to help with the development of the programme.  Maria said:  “We were very fortunate to have had first hand experience of delivering team building exercises to the students in Yerevan.  The reactions to the exercises were incredibly positive, far better than we could have possibly anticipated. The students were shy at first but it didn’t take long before they were working very enthusiastically.  It was a very rewarding experience for us – and I hope for the students as well.”

Maria remarked on another highlight from the trip, saying: “We were delighted to be invited to the Principal’s house for lunch, which gave us an insight into Armenian domestic life.  It was lovely to meet his family and get an opportunity to experience the Armenian way of life”

During their visit to the College, our Armenian guests were invited for lunch with Doug Stott, Executive Director of Finance at the Level 6 College restaurant.   Lunch was prepared, cooked and served by students from the NVQ Hospitality and Catering Course.  

Executive Director of Finance, Doug said: “Bradford College has a well deserved, international reputation for quality programmes.  We’re delighted to share some of our expertise with our Armenian friends and colleagues.”

Doug added:  “This is a very high profile project in Armenia, which is evident by the fact we have a representative from the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science here with us today.  It will also be a great opportunity, in the long term, for students to enjoy the benefits of a future student exchange programme with Armenia.”

Senior Lecturer, Mr Movsisyan spoke of the synergy developed between the two colleges, saying: “We have enjoyed our visit to Bradford. It has been an incredibly useful trip, which has resulted in a fruitful collaboration between the two institutions.  We intend to continue to work in partnership with Bradford College to deliver further programmes.”

Find out more about the joint partnership between Bradford College and the Yerevan State College of Informatics.