According to the RA Government resolution made in 1994, the Armenian Agricultural Academy was formed on the basis of the Armenian Agricultural and Yerevan Zoo Veterinary Institutes, in 2005 which was renamed the Armenian State Agrarian University and in 2012, the Armenian National Agrarian University.
The two former Universities, later as well as the Academy and now ANAU have created a glorious biography, have had outstanding achievements, fulfilling their main mission with the greatest responsibility, preparing high-class specialists for the agrarian sphere of the RA.
History |
More than 65000 graduates have invested their knowledge and skills for promoting and developing agricultural, food industry, mechanization spheres, 23 of them were awarded the honorary title of Socialistic Labor Hero yet in Soviet times.
During the Second World War, when the defense of the motherland was urgent, many university graduates, students and pedagogical staff showed a great patriotism: 4 of them were awarded the honorary title of Soviet Union.
Numerous students and lecturers of the University took part in the struggle for liberating Artsakh and glorified the name of their University. 7 of them died in the First Artsakh war and more than 40 in the 44-day war.
The past nine dozen years have been years of achievements, successes and achievements, but during that time the University staff has met a lot of challenges and difficulties.
In Demand Professions |
In recent years, the university has developed and achieved significant success, has a high rating among agrarian universities not only in the CIS area, but also among the agrarian universities in many European and American countries. In order to fully satisfy the demand for high-quality specialists of the agro-food system of the RA, new and up to date specialties have been established at the university, such as: “Zoology and Biotechnology”, “Veterinary Sanitation Expertise”, “Land management and Cadasters”, “Hydro Melioration”, “Foresty and Landscape Gardening”, “Greenhouse Agrotechnology”, “Food Safety”, “Veterinary Medicine”, “Product Science and Product Quality Expertise”, “Agrarian Policy, Advice and Information”, etc. Graduates of “Fermentation Technology and Winemaking” and also of all majors in food technologies in general are in high demand on the labor market.
The university has branches in Sisian, Vanadzor and Shirak. In 2009-2017 Shushi, then Stepanakert branch also operated.
International Collaborations |
Students from Georgia, Greece, Holland, Bulgaria, Baltic Republics and other countries study at ATC. Trainings are provided in English language according to American and European educational standards. The school is a specific laboratory of implementing educational reforms. Efficient programs have been carried out with Germany Hohenheim University (agrarian economics and agro-ecology) and Weihenstepan University of Applied Sciences (agrarian management – master’s program), Cassel (organic agriculture), Sweden Uppsala (forestry), Spain, Portugal and a few French (Veterinary and Food security) Universities. The University closely collaborates with the leading agrarian universities of the Russian Federation. Various programs of cooperation have been carried out with the agrarian universities of Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and other countries. ANAU is a full member of the world’s 250 leading agrarian universities association since 2000.
It actively participates and follows the events and progresses happening in the sphere of agrarian education in the world.
Education Reforms |
Today the chief event in the field of education is the reforms which started nearly ten years ago and have been continuing so far. They were preconditioned by Bologna declaration and their main purpose is the formation of the Common European Educational Area, opportunity of students’ free mobility and providing competitiveness of graduates in the labor market. While implementing the educational reforms the Agrarian University, taking into consideration the nature and vulnerability of the educational system, followed such a principle as every innovation should be introduced only in the case of detailed investigation, experimentation and consideration of current conditions observing the efficient elements of the traditional educational system. The first stage of the educational reforms that is the transition into two-level educational system has been implemented fluently and efficiently as in all the state higher educational institutions of the Republic, as well as in ANAU. The second stage is the introduction of the educational process organizing credit system, which requires more diligence and proper investigation and experimentation, as the introduced system is significantly different from the traditional one. According to the RA Government resolution, the credit system introduced in the Agrarian University has performed since September 1, 2006.
In common with the credit systems introduced in Yerevan State University and the State Engineering University of Armenia, it was considered as experimental, for since 2000 Armenian-American Agribusiness High School has been functioning at the University, where the education is organized by the credit system. In accordance with the RA Ministry of Education and Science a forty-year program of the system introduction was processed and conformed, ANAU strategy development standpoint in which great importance is attached to the system reforms and progresses intending to complete all the preparatory work of integration to the common European educational framework in 2011-2012. Though the above-mentioned undertakings and achievements have ensured a high reputation for ANAU, still there is a lot to be changed and developed. In this sense, the faculty has a strong will to implement all the necessary requirements in order to have its place and role among the world top Universities.
