Hayastan Fund and TUMO launch education push in Gyumri

The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and TUMO have signed a cooperation memorandum that will start with a TUMO Box in Gyumri’s Mush district. The plan is meant to widen access to technology and creative education for young people in Armenia’s regions, starting in a neighborhood already shaped by the Fund’s housing and community projects.

Why it matters: - The partnership links community development with education, aiming to give more teenagers in Armenia’s regions access to modern learning. - The first project in Gyumri’s Mush district is designed for students ages 12–18 and could deepen local access to technology and creative training. - The memorandum also creates a framework for involving partners from Armenia and the diaspora in regional education projects.

What happened: - The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and the TUMO Centre for Creative Technologies signed a memorandum of cooperation at the TUMO centre in Gyumri. - The agreement was signed by Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Executive Director Aramayis Avetisyan and TUMO CEO Marie Lou Papazian. - The first project under the agreement will install a TUMO Box in Gyumri’s Mush district.

The details: - The Fund says the TUMO Box will expand opportunities for young people aged 12–18 to access technological and creative education. - Students at the Mush district TUMO Box will do self-learning exercises on site and attend classes at the TUMO Gyumri centre. - TUMO Gyumri has served the city’s young people since 2015. - The Fund has already built four residential buildings in Gyumri’s Mush-2 district. - Those buildings provided permanent homes for 86 families that had lived in temporary accommodation. - The Fund also built a nursery for 50 children and created four art studios inside the residential buildings. - TUMO says its education model combines technology, design and creativity across 14 learning areas for teenagers ages 12–18. - TUMO operates six main centres in Armenia and more than 40 TUMO Boxes. - More than 25,000 teenagers take part in TUMO programmes each week.

Between the lines: - Aramayis Avetisyan framed the deal as a shift from building infrastructure to investing in the opportunities that infrastructure creates for families and children. - The partnership also shows how both organizations are linking physical neighborhood upgrades with longer-term human capital development. - The focus on Mush suggests the Fund is building on existing housing and social investments rather than starting from scratch.

What's next: - The organizations are expected to move ahead with the TUMO Box installation in Mush. - The memorandum sets up broader cooperation to expand educational opportunities across Armenia’s regions. - Future work may include educational components inside other community development programs. - The partnership is also expected to draw in additional Armenian and diaspora partners.

The bottom line: - The Hayastan Fund and TUMO are turning a housing-focused neighborhood project into a wider education platform for young people in Gyumri and beyond.