Students are continuing their protests and marching past universities, calling upon students and professors to join them.
“We are prepared to meet with Arayik Harutyunyan only to discuss his resignation, such as how he will do it and within what time frame. We will fight until the end and he will resign,” one of the protesting students said. The students said that they will use different methods of protest to achieve their goal and they will not stand back. “They said that if the people wish, we aren’t going to cling to our chairs. Let them visit our universities to see what the people want,” another student said.
“What our youth organized is fair and justified. We have seen many things taking place in the education and culture sectors over the past few months that should not be welcomed by our youth, such as the “Mel” film, the draft for the “Higher Education and Science” law… by the way, almost all the scientific councils at all universities in Armenia do not agree with the draft, but those responsible for the education sector only want to make their own opinions count, which naturally makes people angry… I am making use of my right to carry out a strike, and no one has the right to use violence against me, neither the university nor higher authorities,” a Yerevan State University employee said. The employee also emphasized that the protests have nothing to do with any political party as the movement is being led by students.
“We do not have anything to do with those who avoided military service. Many students protesting were also at the front lines during the April War. This is the difference between us and them,” one of the protesters said.
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A student from the YSU Faculty of Philology, Gevorg Gyulumyan, said that any professional in the Republic of Armenia needs to speak Armenian fluently. “If that needs to be a requirement, then why are we leaving that to the discretion of the university? How are we supposed to know what the next director is going to think?” He also emphasized that the protests are not anti-government; the protesters are simply defending their right to having a national education.
Gohar Hakobyan
