On December 11, the European University of Armenia held the "Safe Storage of Documents with the Article 26 Backpack" workshop, organised in cooperation with ANQA and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).
The workshop was dedicated to the Article 26 Backpack, an innovative digital platform offering a free cloud-based service for the safe storage, management and international exchange of academic and professional documents. The platform enables the storage of diplomas, transcripts, certificates, CVs, motivation letters and other key documents in a single environment, supporting the targeted planning of students’ educational and professional trajectories.
The event opened with welcoming speeches from Varduhi Gyulazyan, head of ANQA’s Institutional and Programme Accreditation Division, and Arman Grigoryan, vice-rector for Academic Affairs of the European University of Armenia.
Varduhi Gyulazyan noted in her speech that the initiative is grounded in the principles of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, viewing education not only as a right to acquire knowledge but also as a path to holistic human development. According to Ms. Gyulazyan, each student’s academic and professional journey is unique, making it essential for this entire experience to be organised and securely stored on a single platform.
Next, Meri Barseghyan, coordinator of ANQA’s "Students’ Voice" project, and Megan Pusl (via video), representative of the UC Davis and student leader of the Article 26 Backpack platform, introduced the platform's functions, the Backpack Guide Badge programme and the opportunities provided for students.
Maria Kirakosyan and Margarita Hovhannisyan, students from the European University of Armenia, shared their experiences with platform registration, successful completion of the Backpack Guide Badge and achievement of the Backpack Guide micro-credential.
The event ended with a Q&A session. The students were particularly curious about how Article 26 Backpack differs from other cloud-based services, how the security of uploaded documents is guaranteed and why it is important to trust this particular platform. Meri Barseghyan highlighted that the digital backpack ensures both the safe storage of academic documents and students' international educational and professional mobility.
The workshop addressed the platform's key advantages, focusing on the facilitation of students' academic mobility and the ensurance of their entire professional trajectory. In particular:
- Safe storage: protection of uploaded documents, guaranteed by high academic standards of the UC, Davis.
- Exchange: secure sharing of academic and professional achievements with HEIs, scholarship agencies and employers via temporary links.
- Development opportunities: information on new educational and professional programmes and the chance to receive a UC Davis Continuing Education Badge Certificate.
- Language access: availability in eight languages, including Armenian.
It was noted that the Backpack platform currently serves over 5,000 students from various countries worldwide.
With an initial goal to address the social and institutional barriers that arise as refugees and vulnerable young people attempt to continue their education or gain employment, Keith David Watenpaugh, Professor and Director of Human Rights Studies at the University of California, Davis, created Article 26 Backpack. It is named in accordance with Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts everyone’s right to education.