YEREVAN, July 4. /ARKA/. The Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) with the support of Ucom telecom provider opened today another 9 Armath engineering labs in Ararat and Vayots Dzor provinces of Armenia.



According to an UITE press release, engineering laboratories opened at secondary schools in the rural communities of Yeraskh, Yelpin, Areni, Getap, Shatin, as well as at high school in Vayk, at secondary school N1 in Malishka, as well as at basic schools N1 and 2 in Yeghegnadzor.



The goal of this major program is to promote technical education in all the schools of Armenia, encourage school students’ interest in high technology and enhance engineering thinking.



Under a memorandum signed on June 15 by UCOM telecom provider and the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE UCOM will finance the establishment of 70 Armath engineering laboratories at schools in nine provinces of the country.



Computer software and systems are being adapted for the Armenian language, and preference is given to local producers when purchasing hardware and software, like high-quality three-dimensional (3D) printers, mini-computers, robotics and other devices.



According to UITE executive director Karen Vardanyan, the 3-4 year-long training courses teach the students the skills, which they can use to find work in IT sector. He also expressed gratitude to Ucom for investing in the future of Armenian youth.



For his part, UCOM CEO Hayk Yesayan says these labs are the foundation of young people’s creative life and development of creative thinking.



The Armath engineering laboratories program was launched in 2014. It is designed for children of grades 5-12. In 5-6 years it could become compulsory for all students and will teach them programming, robotics and 3D-modeling. By 2019 their number is expected to surge to 1,2000. The program is run by UITE with the support of the government.



UITE was founded in 2000 to protect the economic interests of ICT companies and stimulate business development and promotion of IT research. -0-





18:21 04.07.2016