D. How is MEI’s Mission Still Relevant?

After the fall of the Soviet Union and the loss of interest in political ideologies and the emergence of globalisation, there’s more tendency for the youth to search for their identities and go back to their roots – ethnic or religious.

The Armenian youth, dispersed worldwide, will return to their roots and Armenian identity as the binding sociological element for their existence.

Is there a better place for educating our youth and reinforcing their Armenian identity other than our schools? The preservation and perpetuation of a culture can be sustained for generations to come not through Sunday schools, summer camps or through one or two visits to Armenia, but through regular everyday schools that recreate a wholesome experience. With this, the out of school activities and youth projects are not underestimated, because the inculcation of the Armenian identity is a continuously developmental process that requires the joint contribution of the family, school, youth clubs and the church.

Without our schools, our Western Armenian language and culture is particularly endangered of extinction. MEI can play a unique role as the bastion for Western Armenian education.

It is the smaller communities in the world, such as the Armenians, that specially fear the dangers of extinction and therefore struggle to preserve their existence through education. For example, the Agha Khan having gained insight from human history, is spending millions to open schools for the Ismailite minority so that their culture is not absorbed and perished by the larger Muslim masses. The AGBU has immense potential to lead the Diaspora and one of its strong and successful educational institutions is the MEI.

Our generations will completely dissolve in larger cultures if our Armenian linguistic and cultural heritage is not preserved. The Armenian school’s mission is irreplaceable!