Throughout March and April, professional orientation courses and cognitive visits were held as part of the “Horizons” dual education program, which is being carried out at the initiative of the My Step Foundation.

The “Professional Orientation” course was held in 11 schools of beneficiary communities (Sasunik, Karin, Voskehat, Voskevaz, Oshakan, Agarak, Doghs, Shahumyan, Dasht, Amberd and Aghavnatun). The course had two key components —the modern-day labor market, the overloaded and underloaded sectors, the developments in professional demands and more were presented in the first part, and viticulture and winemaking, as well as related professions (marketing, gastro-tourism, etc.) were presented in the second part.

A target group was formed after the professional orientation course held in every school. Afterwards, there were cognitive visits to three wineries (Armenia Wine Company, Voskevaz Winery and Van Ardi Winery) with educational content. During the visits, the pupils were taken to vineyards where there were old and newly planted vines, visited the production sections and explored the activities that are implemented. They were escorted by a guide and introduced to the history and culture of winemaking and viticulture.

The cognitive visits continued on Saryan Street in Yerevan where the pupils were introduced to the culture of wine tasting and the dishes that are served with wine.

The visits, which were full of rich knowledge and new impressions, were summed up with a visit to the Folk Arts Museum where the pupils explored the ornaments of grapes and wine in Armenian handicrafts.