Ombudsman Addresses Complaints of University Applicants Denied Admission

The Human Rights Defender has decided to accept the complaints of applicants who were not admitted to universities and has sent a relevant letter to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia.

This was reported by the Ombudsman's office. The complaints were directed to the Human Rights Defender by university applicants and their parents regarding the admission to higher educational institutions. In particular, the applicants and their parents expressed concerns that, despite scoring between 12.0 and 18.75 points in the unified entrance exams for state and non-state universities for the 2020-2021 academic year, their children were not admitted to the first-choice university or were admitted to a university listed as their 8th choice. Meanwhile, several applicants who scored 7.5 points were admitted to universities listed from the 2nd to the 5th choices.

The citizens, through their complaints, proposed various solutions to the problem, such as the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia increasing the number of available spots in universities to allow high-scoring applicants to study at their preferred institutions. Another suggestion was to enable applicants to enter universities in the first semester of the 2020 academic year, establishing the continuity of further education based on competitive criteria according to knowledge.

The Human Rights Defender has made a decision to accept the complaints for discussion and has sent a relevant letter to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia.