Awards and certificates to the winners of the "Know Your Country and Your People" debate competition

On June 3, 2023, the “House of Hovhannes Tumanyan" Center hosted the delegation of the Department of the Armenian Relief Society of Georgia and the winners of the "Know Your Country and Your People" debate competition.

After taking a tour of great Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanyan’s former apartment with the guests and listening to the explanations and comments of tour guide Gohar Mazmanyan, Karine Tadevosyan, the chairperson of the Department of Armenian Relief Society in Georgia, introduced the members of the competition committee and the representative of the Central Department of the Armenian Relief Society.

Presenting the purpose of the "Know Your Country and Your People" competition debate, the staged organizational process, and the implemented activities and achievements, Ms. Karine highly appreciated the fact that 137 students from schools and various centers of Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe, Ninotsminda, and Tsalka regions and nearby villages of Javakheti region took part in the competition dedicated to Armenian history. Despite the fact that accordingly to the national curriculum of Georgia, the history of the Armenian people and the Armenian Church are not taught in public Armenian-language schools, the students of the 7th to 11th grades participating in the competition demonstrated appropriate knowledge by answering the questions.

16 participants reached the finals of the debate competition, however, according to the decision of the competition committee, the winning places were distributed to 2 third and second places and 1 first place. Winners of five prize places received ARS certificates and souvenirs. All 16 students who passed the final stage of the competition debate received a certificate of participation. Chairperson Karine Tadevoyan gave letters of thanks to the members of the jury and "The House of Hovhannes Tumanyan" Center.

Ms. Hamest Sasunyan, a member of the central board of the ARS in Tbilisi, congratulated all the participants and members of the competition committee for their serious work, and expressed her appreciation to the chairperson Karine Tadevosyan for the activities of national value and the implementation of fruitful, benevolent programs by the Javakhk office.

At the end of the event, public figure Levon Chidilyan and Chairperson of “Shushanik” Association of Armenian Women in Georgia Susanna Khachatryan expressed their opinions and highly appreciated the purpose of the debate competition, the implementation of which fills up the lack of educating and inspiring the generations with patriotic ideas, the life source of which is the proper knowledge of Armenian history and literature.

Rev. Father Kirakos Simonyan, spiritual superintendent of the “House of Hovhannes Tumanyan” Center concluded the event and offered his blessings. He conveyed those present blessings of the Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, Rev. Father Archimandrite Kirakos Davtyan and wished success to the activities of the ARS charity organization and to all the participants of the debate. Rev. Father Kirakos Simonyan highlighted the necessity to hold such a debate in terms of knowledge of the history of the Armenian Church and knowledge of the Christian faith.

The interesting day of the award ceremony ended with a visit to the Armenian churches in Tbilisi, the pantheon of Armenian writers and public figures in Pantheon of the Armenian Writers and Public Figures “Khojivank”, other sights of the city, and the historical church complex of Mtskheta.