Prime Minister Addresses Discussions on the Subject of Armenian Church History

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, has addressed the new draft law proposed by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, which aims to review the subjects taught in schools.

In a live broadcast on his Facebook page, Nikol Pashinyan presented his observations regarding the teaching of Armenian Church History. He stated, “Schools teach the history of the Armenian people and separately the history of the Armenian Church. Let’s analyze the situation. Does this mean that the history of the Armenian people and the history of the Armenian Church are separate phenomena? If we pose such a question, then let’s separate from the history of the Armenian people the history of the institutions created by the Armenian people. For instance, let us teach separately about the history of statehood, laws, armed forces, science, and culture. By separating the history of the Armenian Church from the history of the Armenian people, what are we trying to convey? The history of the Armenian people consists of the histories of the church, science, and culture, among others,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that during the Soviet period, the history of the Armenian Church was removed from the history of the Armenian people. According to him, it is now time to create a unified history without neglecting the history of critically important institutions. “I have discussed this issue with members of the Supreme Spiritual Council. Since the Soviet era, the literary works created by the church have not been included in the curriculum of Armenian literature. Many valuable pieces have been excluded from the programs of song and music. In recent years, efforts have been made to compensate for this by teaching Armenian Church History, but now we need to create a unified history that reflects the history of the Armenian Church. All institutions must be involved in this work,” Pashinyan emphasized.

He highlighted that the country has set a goal to become a technological one, and to achieve this, it is essential to accurately define what subjects are burdening students in schools. According to him, it is impossible to reach this goal without paying special attention to subjects such as physics, chemistry, and mathematics. “This does not mean that our children should be unaware of the history of the people, the church, and the army; one should not oppose them to each other,” said the Prime Minister.