Yerevan State University Faculty Members Announce One-Day Strike

The faculty members of the Armenian Language and Literature and History departments at Yerevan State University (YSU), led by their deans, held a meeting a short while ago during which they adopted a statement.

“In solidarity and support of our students, we announce a one-day strike. We want students to feel that they are not alone in their protests, that the issue they are defending has the support of their professors,” said Arshaluis Galstyan, an associate professor at the Department of Armenian Literature, in a conversation with NEWS.am.

He noted that the text of the statement will be published soon, and he only spoke about the initial point. “We are calling for a response, and based on that, we will determine our next steps,” the professor added.

It should be reminded that YSU students from the Armenian Language and Literature and History faculties have been on strike since November 6, protesting against a draft law on higher education initiated by the Ministry, which suggests making the mandatory subjects of “Armenian Language,” “Armenian Literature,” and “History of Armenia” elective in non-specialized faculties.

On November 7, young members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation held a protest outside the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, demanding the resignation of Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, then continued their march to various ministry offices and declared a sit-in there.

Participants of the sit-in believe that Arayik Harutyunyan should resign, as during his tenure, the ministry has pursued an anti-national policy by promoting the controversial draft law on higher education and proposing to remove the subject “History of the Armenian Church” from the school curriculum while funding “anti-Armenian, satanic” projects. They were particularly outraged by the fact that the ministry allocated 2.7 million drams for the controversial performance “HuZank u Zang.”

Arayik Harutyunyan has stated that he does not intend to resign.