What are 长沙数字货币USDTthe problems with IT education in Armenia? Interview with the head of EPAM Armenia

July 17, 2025  18:26

Competition in the global IT sector remains very high, and therefore both individual companies and entire countries have to make a lot of efforts to attract attention and offer the best solutions to the market. In order for the Armenian IT sector to keep up with global trends and remain relevant and competitive, the country needs good specialists. However, the shortage of qualified specialists, as the head of EPAM ArmeniaBenjamin Gyurjyan claims, remains a pressing problem in our country.

In an interview with NEWS.am Tech, he noted that there is definitely no surplus of IT specialists in Armenia today – on the contrary, there is an acute shortage of human resources. However, the problem is also that the existing specialists may not work on themselves, lag behind market demands and do not meet the demands of companies that have vacancies.

"We teach not only for ourselves"

To address the shortage of specialists, EPAM Armenia has been training new specialists for the past decade at its educational center, recently renamed EPAM Campus. Here, students are provided with both theoretical and practical training in more than 20 different areas of IT. As Gyurjyan emphasized, the goal of the program is to train new specialists not only for the needs of the company itself, but also for the wider market.

"We train students regardless of whether we need 10 or 100 people this year. We train specialists for the entire market. About 10-15 percent of our graduates stay with us, the rest will work in other companies, but our paths with them may still cross in the future," he noted.

EPAM Armenia, as Gyurjyan noted, trains not only within the framework of its own programs, but also works with universities, including the American University of Armenia and the European University.

English and technical literacy are serious problems

Gyurjyan believes that one of the main obstacles and problems in the field of IT education in Armenia is the low level of English proficiency among the population, especially in the regions. According to him, proficiency in English is crucial for international companies, and due to lack of knowledge of the language, local talent cannot meet global standards.

In addition, there is, according to Gyurjyan, a need to improve the most basic IT education, technical literacy in Armenia. The existing school education system does not provide all the necessary skills, and many have to acquire them along with receiving a more specialized education. Ideally, children should be taught how to work with a computer, Internet literacy, etc. from school.

"How to work with a computer, how to type on a keyboard, how to use the Internet, how to find information on it, how to distinguish fake from reality – all this knowledge is of great value, and all this should be taught already in the 3rd or 4th grade. Whatever the child decides to do in the future, whatever profession he chooses – a doctor, for example – this knowledge will help him become a good specialist."

Regional development

Since resources, including human ones, are limited in Armenia, the potential of the country's regions cannot be ignored. This is one of the main ideas voiced at the Silicon Mountains Shirakforum. Benjamin Gyurjyan, of course, shares this idea.

Speaking about the development of regions, Gyurjyan noted that the opportunity to work and study online significantly contributes to this development: today, no one needs to travel or move anywhere to gain access to quality education or employment prospects.

On the other hand, the problem of keeping students from moving to big cities in search of better opportunities still remains relevant.

“The main focus should be on creating favorable conditions that enable young talents to stay and work in their home regions. This includes ensuring that they have access to the same quality of education, resources and employment opportunities as in the city,” Gyurjyan noted.

According to him, solving these problems requires certain work from the state. Improving the quality of education, providing tax incentives and creating favorable living and working conditions in the regions are the most important steps that need to be taken – and all this should be done at the state level. Government support, according to Gyurjyan, is important for ensuring the viability and sustainability of regional development.

The Silicon Mountains Shirak forum was held on July 4 in Gyumri. The event was organized by UEICT with the support of the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of Armenia. The Platinum Partner of the forum is Unicomp, the Fintech Partner is EasyPay, the Tech Partner is Ucom, the Silver Partners are Synopsys Armenia and Ovio. Regional and Youth Representation Partner is the Gyumri Technology Center implemented by the Enterprise Incubator Foundation, and the media partner is NEWS.am Tech.