Kotayk Regional Administration Issues Statement Regarding Grounds for Dismissal of Former Principal of Abovyan Number 2 School

The dismissal of the former principal of Abovyan Number 2 School in the Kotayk region is based on serious violations identified through investigations, according to the Kotayk Regional Administration. The administration states that, given the distorted information circulating in the media regarding Svetlana Hovhannisyan's dismissal from the state institution, they find it necessary to clarify the situation.

In the statement, it is noted: ‘Considering the fact that distorted information has been widely circulating in the press, which has led to misinterpretations, and to avoid unnecessary speculation, the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports of the Kotayk Regional Administration deems it necessary to provide clarification. Clear instructions have been given by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Health, as well as the State Labor Inspectorate and the Kotayk Regional Administration of Armenia, regarding ensuring the appropriate thermal regime in public schools, as defined by the instruction of the Minister of Health of March 28, 2017, No. 12-N. However, the principal ignored these significant instructions and failed to carry out temperature measurements in various parts of the school, leaving it unclear what data regarding temperature was provided daily to the Kotayk branch of ‘HVK AC’.

In this regard, the first disciplinary penalty, a ‘Warning’, issued to S. Hovhannisyan might have seemed insignificant, had further inspections of the school not uncovered even more ‘gross’ violations that were key to her dismissal, including changes made to the employment contracts of the operator and the organizer of educational activities, L. Manukyan—who, incidentally, is the principal’s daughter—by the principal’s order on August 31, 2018. In the contract signed with L. Manukyan, the position of educational activities organizer was changed to that of an operator, while the school operator was appointed as the organizer of educational activities without the necessary qualifications, violating the requirements of clause 3 of chapter 6 of Appendix No. 4 of the Government's decision No. 1391-N dated October 14, 2010.

Investigations carried out by the Kotayk Regional Administration also revealed that contracts of a certain duration were signed with five teachers in 2018 and 2019, instead of indefinite-term employment contracts, which contradicts the requirements of Article 95 of the Armenian Labor Code. This violates the legal rights of those employees, which are clearly guaranteed by Armenian law. These serious violations led to the issuance of a second disciplinary penalty, a ‘Severe Warning’, which is incompatible with her continued service in the position of principal.

Once again, we find it necessary to remind that we live in times of restoring legality. As always, in this case as well, our actions are exclusively within the framework of the law, and we are guided by the principles of the supremacy of the law and equality before the law. Furthermore, we urge to refrain from disseminating information that does not correspond to reality. We want to emphasize that the former principal has the right to appeal the dismissal decision in the manner prescribed by law, just like any citizen in our country. However, we urge that misinformation and unnecessary actions be avoided.’