Ayb Educational Foundation

Ayb was founded in 2006 by people who consider their achievements to be the result of education and who wish to improve the educational system of Armenia through joint investments. The founders of Ayb are:

• Ashot Aslanyan (Armenia / Russia, founder of Aerosib company),
• Aram Pakhchanyan (Armenia, Vice President of ABBYY , Director of Ayb School ) ^[2] ,
• Arthur Bird (France / USA, founder of the companies General Quantitative, Wealth Technologies) ^[3] ,
• David Pakhchanyan (Armenia, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia) ^[4] ,
• David Yang (Russia / USA, founder of ABBYY , co-founder of iiko, co-founder and president of Findo),
• Karen Musaelyan (USA, founder of HiQu Capital),
• Karo Sargsyan (Russia, entrepreneur, founder of Spetstorg company),
• O. Mesrop Aramyan (Armenia, President of Vem Radio, Director of NPOO).

Ayb Club is the highest governing body of all Ayb structures. Ayb Club brings together 38 members from different parts of the world (as of July 1, 2016).

The highest governing body of the Ayb Educational Foundation is the Board of Trustees, which consists of 6 Ayb Club members in a rotational order. The term of office of the Board of Trustees is two years.

During its 10-year activity, Ayb Educational Foundation has developed and implemented over 20 educational projects and initiatives.

The main projects of Ayb Fund are:

• Ayb School (primary, secondary and senior) - has been operating since 2011 ^[5] .
• Dilijan Central School, owned by the Ayb School Family and became the first school project that Ayb implemented as part of an external order and funding ^[6] .
• The National Education Distinction Program, implemented by the Ayb Education Foundation in collaboration with Cambridge University (England) and the Institute of Education (IOE), University College London (UCL) ^[7] .
• 2 fablabs - workshops-laboratories created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, MIT) , equipped with special equipment and materials ^[8] .
• Mass competitions for schoolchildren - the “Kangaroo” mathematical contest ^[9] , the Armenian language contest “The Little Bee” ^[10] , the Russian language competition “The Russian Bear” ^[11] , the Pan-Armenian Tournament of Young Chemists ^[12] , the national stage of the World Robot Olympiad ^[13] .
• Modern subject laboratories "AybLaby."
• Advanced subject courses.
• Master classes.

In February 2006, wanting to contribute to the development of Armenia through the investment of their time, mental strength and material resources, 8 friends gathered in Moscow and decided to establish the Ayb Educational Foundation and Ayb Club. In December, the Ayb Educational Foundation was officially founded. In the same month, the first Ayb program, Advanced Departmental Courses, was launched. As part of this program, Ayb educational methodologies were created and tested, and, in particular, the foundations of a new educational program, the Ararat Baccalaureate, were laid.

In May 2007, Ayb opened its first modern laboratory in physics at the Physics and Mathematics Special School in Yerevan. Today, 5 AybLabs operate in 5 schools of 4 marzes of Armenia. In the same year, when only a few could use the Internet in Armenia, Ayb made thousands of educational materials of the OpenCourseWare program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology accessible to applicants, students and teachers of 33 Armenian universities without the need for an Internet connection.

In May 2008, Ayb for the first time held a pilot version of the Kangaroo international mathematical contest in Armenia. In 2010, 2 more mass competitions for schoolchildren joined the Kangaroo - “Russian Teddy Bear: Linguistics for All” and the World Tournament for Young Chemists. And already in 2014, Ayb created and for the first time held in Armenia and Artsakh the contest “The Bee: Armenian for All”. Since 2016, Ayb Educational Foundation has also launched one of the most massive school competitions in Armenia - the national stage of the World Robot Olympiad (BOP).

In August 2009, a series of master classes for chemistry teachers from different schools of Armenia started. In the future, this program found application in other formats, in the form of master classes for various audiences.

In January 2010, the Government of the Republic of Armenia at the first meeting of the year decided to allocate a land plot of 6.5 hectares in the territory adjacent to the Tbilisi Highway in Yerevan for the implementation of the Ayb Educational Hub project (Ayb School). In 2011, Ayb High School was opened ^[14] .

In July 2013, the Ayb Educational Foundation and the Central Bank of Armenia signed a cooperation agreement on the creation of the Ayb educational technology school in Dilijan. In September 2013, the first school year in the area allocated for temporary use began at the Dilijan Central School, and construction began on the main school building, commissioned in 2015 ^[15] .

In January 2014, Ayb Education Foundation, in collaboration with Cambridge University (England) and the Institute of Education, University College London (UCL) launched a large-scale educational initiative at the state level - the National Program for Distinction in Education (VET). The main tool for the implementation of NPOO is the Ararat Baccalaureate educational program developed by the Ayb Foundation, a globally competitive educational program, which was introduced in Ayb School in September 2015. In May 2016, Ayb students for the first time passed the Ararat Baccalaureate exams, which are recognized as equivalent to the Cambridge A Levels exams ^[16] .

In October 2015, two fablabs (workshops-laboratories developed by MIT) were opened at Ayb schools in Yerevan and Dilijan ^[17] .

• Ayb official website
• Official website of Ayb Educational Foundation
• Official website of Ayb School