STEPANAKERT (UNPO)—The Ministry of Education and Science of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and the Artsakh State University organised an International Conference on 27-29 June entitled “Education without Discrimination: Bologna Context.” The event took place in Stepanakert, the capital of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and brought together government officials and lawmakers from Armenia, Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria), Nagorno Karbakh (Artsakh), Basque Country, and Flanders, in addition to international experts, researchers and students from different parts of the world.

 

The main purpose of the conference was to address the issue of equal rights to education and the principle of non-discrimination, specifically as it relates to education. Discussions were held around this basic human right issue, which is mandated in the UN Convention against Discrimination in Education, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and other international documents. During the conference, the right to education was portrayed as a core aspect and facilitator of tolerance, cooperation, and as a peaceful conflict resolution mechanism. The conference focused moreover on the current national and international policies for integration and participation to the Bologna process for unrecognised states such as Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Kosovo and Nagorno Karabakh.

The conference highlighted the importance of cooperation within a single European Higher Education Area, especially when it comes to the integration of non-recognised states. Dr. Torosyan from Yerevan State University took the floor and stressed the importance of institutional reforms, marking the peculiarities in post-conflict countries.

The participants agreed that the right to education and the creation of a single European Higher Education Area without discrimination should be implemented in terms of development of stable, peaceful and democratic societies. Within this framework, non-recognised states should be ensured to have access to the Bologna process.