The initiative We Are Against Foreign Schools offered the parties and alliances participating in the 2012 parliamentary election to include a set of provisions in their election programs. Among them was adopting innovative educational programs translated into Armenian and localized, making the high-quality educational content on the internet Armenian and introducing it in the educational environment, revising the amendments to the Language and Education Acts made in 2010, by which the right to open foreign schools in Armenia was provided for by the law. www.aravot.am inquired of Aram Apatyan, a member of the initiative group We Are Against Foreign Schools whether the parties that were in the parliament presently had fulfilled their promises.
“There is no progress yet, although some parties are interested in our offering amendments to laws, which they will consider and try to put forward in the National Assembly. I am talking about the Heritage Party and the Free Democrats Party, as well as the Armenian National Congress (ANC) at the time. They expect not just a proposal, but an already drawn up document in line with the legislative criteria, which is hard for us to do at the moment, because we don’t have those capabilities and are compelled to give the proposals to a specialist who can define everything in an appropriate manner,” Mr. Apatyan said. He stated that when the document was ready, they would offer it to the parties again.
We asked whether there was any response from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) – that party had included some proposals of the initiative in its election program – and what responses there were from other parties. “The ARF really included two of our proposals in its program, but yesterday when I was listening to their speech on their future work made at The Parliamentary Week, they didn’t talk about those two points. Perhaps, they have put them into circulation already, I don’t know. Let me remind that those two points are about the international undergraduate program and making information technologies Armenian,” Apatyan added.
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According to him, the Rule of Law Party (RLP) didn’t have any wish to meet with them at all; the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) promised to discuss the proposals and to include some provisions in its program; the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) was not able to make changes to a ready program, but expressed readiness to cooperate.
Aram Apatyan hopes that when their proposals take the shape of a bill, some parties will probably try to contribute to their becoming a law.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
