VivaCell-MTS, COAF Bring New Educational Opportunities to Vanand School

The continuous collaboration between VivaCell-MTS and the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) has resulted in the opening of a third Creativity Lab that will host students from the Vanand Community School in the Armavir marz of Armenia. The lab is equipped with a smart board, modern computers, as well as special mobile furniture. A modern Library/Resource Center will also be functioning in Vanand.

The concept of Creativity Labs—technologically enhanced centers that encourage creativity—was first introduced in Armenia by COAF. VivaCell-MTS’s financial assistance and corporate social responsibility component allowed for these programs to create equal development opportunities for rural communities and promote the integration of informational and communication technologies into village schools.

The program that was launched a year ago has also been beneficial for the schoolchildren from the Sardarapat community in Armavir marz and the Arteni community in Aragatsotn marz. Creativity Labs provide a multifunctional environment fit for classes, training sessions, lectures, reading, discussions, projects, games, performances, and fun.

“Once given the opportunity to discover, children will exceed all your expectations. It is really important to turn the ordinary learning process into an adventurous creative experience. I would like to believe that the newly created environment will increase the children’s interest towards learning and will lead towards expected result,” said VivaCell-MTS general manager Ralph Yirikian.

Anoush Yedigaryan, the executive director of COAF, attaches great importance to the improved physical infrastructure and learning environment of educational institutions. “All those programs that COAF initiates and implements serve as a catalyst for youth empowerment and aim at raising the quality of education in rural schools,” she said. “This wonderful educational facility, which includes the creativity lab, library and resource center, will help not only those students who are eager to learn, but also all the teachers who wish to integrate the use of technologies into the teaching process and make it more interesting and content-rich.”

The newly opened Library/Resource Center enables increased access to information with the application of technologies and instills love towards reading among the schoolchildren. The center offers literature and professional development materials for a variety of target groups, such as children, adolescents, teachers/pedagogues, and community members at large. One of the distinctive features of the library is the availability of digital versions of textbooks, books, and other informational materials.

Parallel to the opening of the Creativity Lab/Library/Resource Center, COAF is launching “Healthy Nutrition” and “Dental Hygiene” programs in the Vanand School. A tooth-brushing station, Brushodrome, has been built in the school, and the school cafeteria has been equipped with necessary appliances and supplies. In the course of the new academic year, the elementary school students in Vanand will be served with hot and healthy meals, and the teachers and school nurses will be trained on proper oral and dental hygiene.

Earlier in 2013, as part of COAF’s Health Program activities, the Vanand Health Post was renovated and refurbished; in March 2014 a playground was constructed in the schoolyard; and just recently in May 2014 the Vanand School was included in the Schools for Health in Europe (SHE) Network.

The Children of Armenia Fund is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that employs community-led approaches aimed at improving the quality of life in rural Armenia, with a particular focus on children and youth. COAF’s target development areas are education, health, social, and economic development. COAF launched its programs in 2004, starting in 1 village and expanding to 22 villages in the Armavir and Aragatsotn marzes of Armenia. This became the inception of COAF’s innovative cluster village model approach. Eight of COAF’s beneficiary villages have undergone intensive interventions, while selected development programs have been carried out in the rest of the villages. More than 30,000 people have been impacted by COAF’s work. To learn more, visit www.coafkids.org and am.coafkids.org.

VivaCell-MTS (K-Telecom CJSC) is Armenia’s leading mobile operator, having the widest 2G/3.75G/4G network reach and spreading a wide range of voice and data services across Armenia. VivaCell-MTS drives innovation and aims at being at the forefront of any development serving the Armenian mobile communications market. For more information, visit www.vivacell.am. Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (“MTS”) is the leading telecommunications group in Russia and the CIS, offering mobile and fixed voice, broadband, pay TV, as well as content and entertainment services in one of the world’s fastest growing regions. Including its subsidiaries, the group services more than 100 million mobile subscribers. Since June 2000, MTS’s Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MBT). For more information, visit www.mtsgsm.com.