On September 29 and 30, 2026, as one of the two final activities of the Visegrad+ project (ID 22510243) Developing Reading Literacy Through Integrated Information Recognition and Processing (DEREL), an international dissemination conference Developing Reading Literacy through the Intervention Programme. Results, Impact and Transferability. was held in the capital of Armenia – Yerevan. The conference was patronized by the rector of the partner Armenian State Pedagogical University Khachatur Abovian – Assoc. Prof. Lilit Mkrtchyan. The conference was opened with a welcoming speech to its participants, in which she emphasized the importance of the project not only for the university, its staff and students, but also for all of Armenia. The conference took place in the current school year 2026/2027, which the Ministry of Education in Armenia officially declared as the Year of Reading (Year of Reading). This initiative was presented by the Armenian Minister of Education Zhanna Andreasyan in September 2026 with the aim of motivating students to read books and improving their overall reading literacy. The rector also thanked the representatives of FF UKF in Nitra for their involvement in the project and for their support in preparing the conference, specifically the project coordinator – Prof. Zdenka Gadušová, PhD., her deputy, Prof. PaedDr. Eva Stranovská, PhD., and their younger colleagues, Mgr. Ivana Poulíkova, PhD., and PaedDr. Ivan Haring, PhD.
Representatives of the Faculty of Arts of UKF presented insightful contributions and also provided administrative and organizational support for the event. Representatives from another partner of the Visegrad+ project from the “Aleksandër Moisiu” University in Durrës, Albania, actively participated in the conference.
The presentations of conference participants from partner universities and schools involved in the validation of the Intervention Programme focused on the development of reading literacy evaluated the results of the validation and clearly stated the positive impact of the program on the affected students. The conference also opened several questions, such as how to help students understand text and work with information in their native and foreign languages. In the digital environment, it is not enough to just search for and read information. It is important to know how to interpret it, critically evaluate it, and distinguish between trustworthy content and false or misleading claims. The international meeting also created space for discussion on how strategies, methods, and experiences from the project can be applied in various educational environments.
The conference also included a moderated panel discussion with the project coordinator and its researchers, which was actively participated in primarily by practicing teachers interested in the possibilities of using the intervention program. The discussion focused on text comprehension processes, reading strategies, and the psychological aspects of reading comprehension interventions. Attention was also given to various types of interventions used in pedagogical practice, characteristics of good and weaker readers, and possibilities for targeted support for students with varying levels of reading competencies through the intervention program. The panel discussion created space for the exchange of professional knowledge and practical experiences and contributed to linking research results with the specific needs of pedagogical practice.
The collaboration of partner universities thus connects research, pedagogical practice, and the exchange of experiences to support and inspire students and teachers towards responsible information processing.
Text: Prof. PaedDr. Zdenka Gadušová, CSc., Prof. PaedDr. Eva Stranovská, PhD., FF – Department of Romance and German Studies
Photo: organizers’ archive