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Society

Marieta Ashikyan's Strategic Contributions to The Development of Inclusive Education in Armenia

By Nona Arshakyan

In Armenia, where inclusive education policies have historically faced implementation challenges, Ms. Marieta Ashikyan—an education consultant specializing in inclusive education and policy development—has played a key role in advancing systemic reforms. Over the past decade, her work as an educational expert has contributed to the development of regional and national frameworks aimed at integrating children with disabilities into mainstream schools.

Ms. Ashikyan’s involvement began receiving strategic importance in 2015 through a research initiative conducted in collaboration with Bridge of Hope and supported by UNICEF and the Open Society Foundations. The study identified structural barriers in Armenia’s education system for children with disabilities and proposed actionable recommendations, many of which informed later policy adjustments.

Since 2017, Ms. Ashikyan actively led a multi-year inclusive education program in Armenia’s Tavush Region, funded by international donors and implemented alongside local authorities. The initiative facilitated the enrollment of hundreds of children with disabilities in public schools while introducing systemic changes, including curriculum adaptations, teacher training, and the use of assistive technologies. By 2022, the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport had formalized the Tavush model as a regional policy framework, creating a basis for potential nationwide expansion.

Ms. Ashikyan also served as a lead consultant for the national project “Enhancing the Quality of Inclusive Education,” managed by Armenia’s Center for Education Projects. In this role, she contributed to the development of monitoring tools to assess school readiness and alignment with European inclusion standards. Her recommendations helped standardize evaluation mechanisms across Armenia’s education system, improving accountability in inclusive education practices.

Beyond domestic efforts, Ms. Ashikyan provided expertise in Armenia’s 2015 report to the United Nations on compliance with Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, detailing progress and gaps in inclusive education.

More recently, she advised a UNDP-supported initiative to strengthen Armenia’s education data systems, focusing on real-time tracking of inclusive education progress. Her approach has emphasized collaboration with government and civil society stakeholders, ensuring reforms align with both policy goals and practical implementation.

As Armenia continues to refine its inclusive education model, Ms. Ashikyan’s work—spanning research, program implementation, and policy advising—has contributed to measurable advancements in accessibility and systemic reform.