“The Strategy of the State Program for the Development of Education of the Republic of Armenia until 2030” has not yet been approved by the National Assembly and has not become law. However, in a parliamentary country, the project, which has not yet been approved by the National Assembly, was presented by the Prime Minister at the government session as already a reality, speaking in particular about 5-8 universities to be established with 100% state funding and moving them over time to an academic city, which will be built in Ashtarak. Even though the majority in the National Assembly inspires confidence that this program will be approved, however, referring to this fact, the guest of Aravot’s “Areresum (Confrontation)” program, education expert Atom Mkhitaryan said.
“I would very much like that program to be approved in the National Assembly because many good things are written there. But, of course, they are unrealistic considering the current situation. The most obvious thing is that by 2030, at least 4 universities from Armenia should be included in the list of the best 500 universities in the world. So, I want the people who wrote that project to say: it means that our universities must have very high standards. In particular, the articles of professors working in universities should be published in the world’s best periodicals with a high rating. Those universities should have more of a research component than an educational component, that is, they should be research universities. And most importantly, the budget of those universities should be comparable to today’s Armenia’s state budget.”
He added, “Now we have to think about making at least one university meet those standards. I just don’t know where to find so much funding, because a research university means first of all, yes, the connection of science and education and very high funding. Unfortunately, something like this is hardly possible in Armenia, especially in this post-war situation.”
The other guest of the program, historian and education expert Vano Karapetyan expressed his belief. “Sooner or later, our country will go to the enlargement of universities, it is necessary.” As a contributing factor, he cited a decline in the number of applicants due to demographic issues. “But I don’t quite share their point of view with the enlargement model that they propose. The financial situation of our state is not to the point that… it is true, without saying anything, I agree that they should constantly increase investments in the field of education. But I think it is not urgent at the moment. It would be better to direct those funds to expand the capacities of scientific research institutions at this time.”
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Atom Mkhitaryan assured, “I can definitely say now that there is no research and no serious analysis on the basis of these conversations about uniting and moving universities.” Moreover, at the end of the document, it is mentioned that it does not involve additional financial resources, but it is surprising how the program should be implemented in that case, in response to the question, the expert said, “Well, an immature person could have thought that it would be possible to do something like this by selling university buildings in the center of Yerevan, but let me say again, it could be a product of immature thinking that has nothing to do with reality.”
Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport Vahram Dumanyan specifically said, “If there is a building that we will not use, why should it remain? Suppose we move to better conditions, that building should remain, no matter what. The building of the Pedagogical University should not remain empty, or there should be a class there, or if the university gets better conditions and moves to another place, then something else should be dealt with, everything is possible, including expropriation. it can be provided free of charge, etc.”
Vano Karapetyan mentioned, “It is possible that there are business interests here and that is why they are trying to implement all this. But again, this program requires more financial resources. In our country, there is no connection between the private sector and the education sector, so that the private sector invests in the education system. And they admit in the project that they need to find other sources of funding.” Atom Mkhitaryan advised the government, “Having a good university does not mean having a good building. Now there are very good universities that may not have a very large area because they are remote universities.
And now tens of millions of young people are educated in remote universities without leaving their homes and get a very good education. In other words, it’s not like you have to fix up the building, pave it with asphalt, so that the quality of education increases from it. Of course not.” The offer was, “And why not organize all that remotely, especially since the pandemic allowed us to go a little deeper in that direction, and for example, to have such a university, connecting the diaspora as well?”
Anna ISRAELYAN
