A year after displacement teaching brings a new sense of belonging and purpose to Arevik

On 25 September 2023, teacher Arevik Badalyan, her husband and their four children had to flee to Armenia. As soon as they arrived in Armenia, Arevik began searching for a school for her children. Her four children had experienced multiple pauses in learning due to the conflict and, as a mother, she was worried how much they had to catch up with. In Jrvezh, she found even more than she had hoped for – the principal, upon learning she was a teacher, offered Arevik a teaching position.

This was a cherished opportunity for her and one that she had sorely missed, as she had to let go of her main job as a teacher in 2022. “Many of the schools and preschools would close regularly unable to provide adequate conditions for learning, including heating. Meanwhile, I would try my best to find resources to care for my four children,” shares Arevik.

With a number of refugee families settling in Armenia, Arevik was selected as one of the 20 teachers to be trained to work with refugee children and those from host communities, helping them to bridge educational gaps they had to face repetitively and prepare for school.

"Teaching is more than a job for me,” she says, happily. “I enter the classroom with so much love and excitement to motivate my students. When we had to flee to Armenia, I felt so lost that I didn’t know what to do. But then, when I got the opportunity to return to teaching, to do what I love, I realised that this job – my goal to educate children – would help me overcome everything. Just a few days ago, I spoke with the principal. He said: ‘Arevik, I’m so happy to see that those sad, desperate eyes you had when you first came to school are gone.’ And I agree with him. Teaching each student of mine has become a kind of therapy for me, they help me a lot with their presence and lovely gestures.”

UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of the Republic of Armenia and in partnership with Teach for Armenia Foundation designed one-month courses for refugee children preparing to enroll in the first grade.

“Recognising the educational gaps and ensuring displaced children have an equal starting point when entering first grade, we initiated these one-month courses with financial support from the Education Cannot Wait Foundation,” explains Alvard Poghosyan, UNICEF Education Specialist. “As a result, 360 refugee children aged five to six, living in the regions of Ararat, Kotayk, Armavir, Shirak and Lori, were able to reach the state-defined standards necessary for successfully mastering the school curriculum.”

Arevik’s class includes children from diverse backgrounds. They are all preparing for the new school year to begin in September and, to help them ease the transition from kindergarten to school, Arevik adapted a pre-approved preparatory programme for them, focusing on games, songs and dances.

“I have children who were displaced in 2023 and haven’t attended kindergarten during this year,” she says. “This is a significant gap that we need to fill properly, or else education will become an overwhelming and disliked challenge for these children. For many of them, the start of academic year is associated with a sense of fear and that’s why we have tried to create good memories for them.”

Arevik works with great enthusiasm, trying to convey warmth and love to every child. “Teaching in a safe environment when you can focus on learning, on supporting children and being able to enjoy that process is a true blessing!”

As Arevik explains, many of her students have initially used only dark colors in their drawings, but in time moved to use other brighter colors. “Gradually, I noticed brighter colours – yellows, reds, oranges – appearing in their artwork. I felt so happy when I saw that!” This autumn, she hopes that the playground of her school will be filled with the joyful laughter of children as they start their first school year.