VALENCE, France (Public Radio of Armenia) — The groundbreaking ceremony for a French-Armenian bilingual school was held in Valence, France on Monday, January 14.
The Armenian Cultural Center of Valence has embarked on an ambitious, but much needed project to build the school with a view of passing the Armenian language on to generations and preserve the national identity.
There are seven Armenian schools in France located in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Nice. Valence has so far been the only city with a strong Armenian community not to have a daily school, although 15% of its citizens are of Armenian descent.
The project started in 2015, Valance-based Hampig Osipian told said. He added that the issue has been on the agenda for over 35 years.
Osipian and four of his friends formed a group that will manage the future school.
Construction is expected to last 1.5 years. The project has been sponsored by Lebanese-Armenian Gevork Arabian and the local Armenian community.
