Yerevan State University Deans Demand Immediate Withdrawal of Bill on Higher Education and Science from National Assembly

The deans of Yerevan State University have issued a statement demanding the immediate withdrawal of the bill from the National Assembly. The statement reads: "The deans and heads of departments of Yerevan State University demand that, together with the scientific and educational community of the republic, necessary measures be taken to prepare a legislative draft aimed at the development of higher education and science based on a clear concept.

After the well-known trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, which was extremely unfavorable for the Republic of Armenia, a number of urgent issues emerged that require immediate solutions, such as a humanitarian disaster, tens of thousands of displaced persons, hundreds of prisoners and missing persons, as well as numerous border-related questions. In its meeting on December 3, 2020, the RA government, with an unfounded and unexplained approach, included in the agenda of urgent and unreported issues and, naturally, approved the draft law on Higher Education and Science, sending it to the National Assembly for urgent discussion and adoption.

This is a draft that has been discussed in the scientific council of Yerevan State University and in various departments, receiving numerous significant comments, considering the fact that it lacked a clear concept for the development of higher education and science in Armenia, thereby jeopardizing university autonomy, academic freedom, the preeminence of Armenian studies subjects and research, science management, the status and existence of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, among many other issues. However, none of these comments have been taken into account by the authors; moreover, at the last moment, a particularly controversial provision has been included in the draft law regarding the appointment of university administrators by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport for a term of up to five years, without specifying any requirements for the administrator that are set for the rector of the university. This completely obliterates the university autonomy and academic freedoms provided by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and various laws, thereby violating the rights and legitimate interests of the main stakeholders in education and science: students, academic staff, and researchers.

Taking the above into account, we demand: a) the immediate withdrawal of the draft law on Higher Education and Science from the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, b) together with the scientific and educational community of the republic, to take necessary measures to prepare a legislative draft aimed at the development of higher education and science based on a clear concept. If these measures are not taken, we reserve the right to undertake all actions not prohibited by the Constitution and laws to prevent the adoption and implementation of the mentioned law."

Ruben Melkonyan – Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies
Edik Minasyan – Dean of the Faculty of History
Gegham Petrosyan – Dean of the Faculty of International Relations
Gevorg Barseghyan – Dean of the Faculty of European Languages and Communication
Anushawan Bishop Jamkochyan – Dean of the Faculty of Theology
Khachik Nerkharyan – Dean of the Faculty of Radiophysics
Aleksan Baghdasaryan – Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Psychology
Marat Grigoryan – Dean of the Faculty of Geography and Geology
Hayk Sargsyan – Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management
Gagik Ghazinyan – Dean of the Faculty of Law
Tariel Ghochikyan – Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry
Rafik Hakobyan – Dean of the Faculty of Physics
Arthur Mkrtichyan – Dean of the Faculty of Sociology
Naghash Martirosyan – Dean of the Faculty of Journalism
Pavel Balayan – Dean of the Faculty of Russian Philology
Aram Simonyan – Director of the Institute of Armenian Studies
Ashot Saghyan – Director of the Institute of Pharmacy
Samvel Shukuryan – Director of the IT Educational and Research Center
Armen Avetisyan – Chairman of the YSU Trade Union
David Apoyan – Chairman of the Student Council