Ayb Educational Foundation


Ayb Educational Foundation was founded in 2006 in Armenia. The objective of the Foundation is to shape a culture of excellence in learning and support the development of Armenian education.
The idea behind the Ayb educational movement is to transform human life and the future of Armenia through education.  As an organization implementing development projects and essential changes in the field of education, Ayb is carrying out projects across Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora to ensure the best authentic education for Armenian children. Ayb's projects have become a unique testing ground for the best educational initiatives, on the basis of which educational strategies, research and technologies are being developed. Around 125 000 participants and 1100 educational establishments from all over Armenia and Artsakh are annually involved in Ayb's projects. The Ayb Educational Foundation has initiated large-scale educational projects, such as Ayb School, scholarships for students admitted to Ayb High School, Dilijan Central School, Araratian Baccalaureate, mass school contests, Khan Academy Armenia, AybLabs and numerous other projects that transform the Armenian educational reality.
The goal of the Ayb Educational Foundation is to make its best practices accessible to everyone and to transform Armenia into a country of quality education, a country where contemporary quality education is available to all children.

Structure

Ayb was founded in 2006 by visionaries, who believe education has played a paramount role in their professional and life achievements and wish to improve the educational environment in Armenia through joint efforts. The founders of Ayb are:
The supreme governing body of the Ayb Educational Foundation is the Board of Trustees.  Members of the board of trustees serve two-year terms.
Aram Pakhchanian is the Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Sona Koshetsyan is the Executive Director of the Ayb Educational Foundation.

Projects

The main programs implemented by the Ayb Educational Foundation are:
In February 2006, willing to contribute to the development of Armenia and having numerous opportunities of investing their time, efforts and funds, eight friends met in Moscow and decided to establish Ayb Educational Foundation and Ayb Club. In December, Ayb Educational Foundation was officially established. In the same month, Ayb’s first program - Intensive Subject Courses was launched. Within the framework of this program, Ayb’s educational methodologies were conceived and tested.
In May 2007, Ayb opened the first modern Physics lab - AybLab at the PhysMath School in Yerevan. As of today, there are eight AybLabs at five schools in four marzes in Armenia. In the same year, when few people had access to internet in Armenia, Ayb made thousands of academic materials of MIT OpenCourseWare publication accessible for applicants, students and professors of 33 HEIs in Armenia, without the need to access internet.
In May 2008, Ayb conducted the first pilot for the International Kangaroo Mathematics Contest in Armenia. In 2010, two other mass school contests were launched - All Armenian Tournament for Young Chemists and the Russian Bear International Contest of the Russian Language. In 2014, Ayb developed and for the first time implemented Meghu Armenian Language Contest in Armenia and Artsakh. Since 2016, Ayb Educational Foundation also organizes the national stage of one of the most popular mass school robotics contests - the Word Robot Olympiad, in Armenia.
In August 2009, a series of master classes was launched for Chemistry teachers of various Armenian schools. Later on, this program developed into master classes in various formats for various audiences.
In January 2010, in its first session of the year, the Government of Armenia passed a decree to allocate 6.5 ha land adjacent to the Tbilisi highway in Yerevan to Ayb Educational Foundation for the implementation of the Ayb Learning Hub project. In October 2011, Ayb High School was opened. The Ayb Educational Foundation provides scholarships to around 75% of the students admitted to Ayb High School, providing equal opportunities for all the students of Ayb High School.
In July 2013, the Central Bank of Armenia and the Ayb Educational Foundation signed a cooperation agreement on opening a school in Dilijan equipped with Ayb’s educational technologies. In September 2013, the first academic year of the Dilijan Central School started in a temporary location and construction of the main school building was launched. The building was opened in September 2015.
In January 2014, collaborating with the University of Cambridge and University College London Institute of Education, Ayb Educational Foundation started a large-scale national educational initiative – the National Program for Educational Excellence. Its main instrument – the Araratian Baccalaureate, a globally competitive academic program developed by Ayb was introduced at Ayb School in September 2015. In May 2016, Ayb School students took first-ever Araratian Baccalaureate exams, which are accredited by the Cambridge International Examinations as being equivalent to Cambridge A Levels.
In October 2015, two fablabs were opened adjunct to the Ayb School in Yerevan and the Dilijan Central School.
In 2017, the Ayb Educational Foundation created Khan Academy Armenia, thus making this global online education platform accessible to Armenian learners. With the help of Khan Academy, learners in the Armenian language, their parents and teachers, and generally anyone interested in self-learning, can access the world’s leading educational resources free of charge to receive authentic education in the Armenian language.