Research Education Must Be Brought to Universities: Prime Minister Pashinyan Discusses New Projects

On September 23, during a meeting with Armenian professionals working in Silicon Valley, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the quality of education and its improvement prerequisites.

He noted that organizations like 'Synopsis' and the TUMO centers are implementing certain educational programs, but strategically and institutionally, the education issue has yet to be resolved. 'We need to make kindergarten accessible and affordable for all children in Armenia, and we must work on the quality of education. Currently, there are 38,000 teachers in our educational system, but according to various calculations, 7-8 thousand of those positions are unnecessary. We have numerous cases where four teachers are registered for one position. We have teachers who earn a monthly salary of 25,000 to 30,000 drams. One could ask how a person survives on 25,000 drams, but I will ask a more important question: what does a teacher earning 25,000 drams provide to a child? We are all aware that certain parliamentarians and candidates have employed friends, brothers, sisters, wives, sons, and daughters in their election headquarters,' said the Prime Minister.

He added that there are also issues in the higher education system. 'Some faculties remain very strong, while others are in a state of collapse and are incapable of transmitting any knowledge. In the modern world, the higher education system is directly linked to research; in our country, a student graduates without ever having seen the tools they will need to perform their work at least once during their studies. We must bring research education to universities. There are currently specific projects that will undoubtedly face significant resistance. For example, we plan to connect research institutes with universities and link universities together. We are removing various laboratories from state status and placing them in universities. We must move forward in this direction. Today, a specialist graduates from a university and cannot secure employment at 'Synopsis' with their diploma because 'Synopsis' says, 'Come for six months, and I will prepare you for employment.'

Pashinyan emphasized that no one in Armenia knows the criteria for determining how many government-funded placements should be allocated.