Education

When Armenians first settled in this country, they founded a village educational association. Acutely aware of their own stunted education in the Ottoman Empire, they established reading rooms in Canada, where men congregated to improve their literacy, read newspapers, borrow books, listen to lectures, and debate topics of interest. Literacy in Armenian was also a top priority for the young refugees, who had had to leave school abruptly. The better educated helped illiterate compatriots learn to read and write their mother tongue. The Armenian Women’s Benevolent Association of Montreal (1930–46) gave women similar opportunities. U.S.-based Armenian-language newspapers, largely partisan, also helped strengthen the language and provided regular news and commentary.

Convinced that education was a key to upward mobility, Armenians encouraged their offspring to study and do well. Parents worked hard and sacrificed their own comfort to ensure children, especially sons, a good education. Of 104 second-generation young people in Hamilton in 1945, for example, at least thirteen completed university, and some others became nurses or elementary school teachers.

Considering the number of Armenians in Canada at that time and their socio-economic circumstances, the second generation has made distinguished contributions to Canadian society, particularly in the field of medicine, following in the footsteps of the noted naturopath, Alexander B. Davies: Arthur Haktsian was the first Armenian doctor trained in Canada, and Anaid Kiernan-Mooradian the first Armenian woman doctor. In addition to a number of general practitioners, Armenian specialists include John Basmajian, pioneer of electromyography and biomechanics; David Janigan, pathologist; and Matthew Bazoian and George Krikorian, anaesthesiologists. Canadian-born children of survivors have also been prominent in other fields: John Adjeleian, the engineer who designed the retractable dome in Toronto’s Skydome; Armen Manoogian, physicist; Levon Paroyan, lawyer; Ars Mooradian, formerly senior vice-president of Atomic Energy of Canada; and Edward Safarian, professor of economics and former dean of graduate studies, University of Toronto.

Education in Armenian language and culture differed between generations. Armenian supplementary schools in Canada sat three evenings a week, for two hours each evening, and reflected parents’ political or religious affiliation. Children acquired a rudimentary knowledge of reading and writing in Armenian. By contrast, children of survivors who had settled in the Middle East attended full-day Armenian schools, grew up in Armenian quarters, and had a much better grasp of the language and culture.

Many post-1950 immigrants took higher studies in Europe or the United States. Broad education and living in many countries gave them several languages and familiarity with a variety of cultures. The present community is thus remarkable for its cultural and linguistic scope and flexibility. As immigrants from the Middle East prospered, they concentrated on building full-time day schools; Montreal now has three. In 1970 the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) founded the Alex Manoogian/Armen-Quebec school in Montreal, which in 1995 had six hundred students, from nursery to rade eight. Sourp Hagop (St James) Church in Montreal started a full-day school in 1974, and it now has nine hundred students, nursery to grade eleven. In 1983 the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception opened an Armenian school in Montreal. When they left five years later, it was renamed the Armenian Catholic School of Notre Dame de Nareg. Its 250 students range from kindergarten to grade six. Similarly, Toronto has three full-time day schools. The Society of Armenians from Istanbul is the spirit behind Sourp Khatch (Holy Cross) School (founded 1978), which has one hundred students, from nursery to grade six. In 1979 the ARS founded the Babayan Nursery and Kololian School, and it has 375 students, pre-school to grade eight. The AGBU inaugurated the Daniel and Alice Zaroukian School in 1985, which has 125 students, nursery to grade six.

Almost every Armenian church or congregation runs a Sunday school; as well, day-care centres, summer camps, Saturday schools, and publicly subsidized heritage-language classes also offer learning opportunities. In 1991–92 in Ontario thirty-seven Armenian heritage-language classes in both public and separate schools served almost seven hundred students. The largest and oldest is in Toronto: St Mesrob and St Sahag Saturday morning school, set up in 1956, is administered by Holy Trinity Church and had about 250 students in 1995. In 1992–93 St James in Montreal maintained a day-care centre, an elementary and secondary full-day school, a Saturday school, a summer camp, and a Sunday school, with total enrolment of about twelve hundred. It is estimated that at least 65 percent of Armenian youngsters of elementary- and secondary-school age in Montreal attend Armenian-language school. Challenges remain in funding, and debate continues over education of non-Armenian speakers, potential Canadian focus for textbooks, Canadian- versus Armenian-trained language teachers, and children’s preparedness for university. Such concerns reflect shifts in the community; for decades, Armenians concentrated on heritage maintenance, but now, as the community is maturing, retention of ethnic heritage is not the only educational goal. In a survey conducted in Toronto, immigrants listed lack of English-language skills as their greatest problem. All along, Armenians have made an effort to learn English. They attended day- and night-school classes and studied Armenian-English guidebooks and dictionaries. Today, newcomers attend classes in English as a second language (ESL), often organized in centres or church halls.

Community members also teach credit courses at the secondary level and in the community colleges (CEGEPs) in Quebec. The Armenian Studies Association of Quebec, established in 1982, encourages teaching of Armenian language, literature, and history at universities and colleges in Quebec.