Yerevan State University Student Council Expresses Concern Over the Draft Law on Higher Education and Science

The Yerevan State University (YSU) Student Council has expressed its concerns regarding the government’s decision to hastily submit the draft law on higher education and science to the National Assembly.

The Student Council notably points out that, “Firstly, certain provisions of the draft law give rise to various interpretations in terms of the organization of the rotation system. In particular, the sixth paragraph of Article 34 states: ‘(...) a student receiving a state-funded education grant shall receive it (...) for the entire duration of education, and for bachelor's degree holders, they shall lose this right if their average academic grade is less than 20 percent of the average qualifying score determined by the university for four consecutive semesters (for master's degree holders, for two consecutive semesters) (...)’.”

Essentially, the rotation system is being transformed: a student who enrolls without tuition at the university retains the right to receive a state scholarship, except in cases where the student’s average grade is below 16 (on a 20-point grading scale) for four consecutive semesters. This raises concerns on two fronts: in one scenario, a student could have an average grade of 8 for three semesters, but during the fourth semester, they attain a 17, thereby allowing them to continue studying under free tuition, which deprives a student with a higher average grade of their right to free education in the rotation system. In another scenario, it has not been taken into account that students in natural sciences and mathematics faculties often do not exceed an average grade of 16, putting their opportunities for free education at risk.

We believe that such an arrangement contradicts the principle of legal certainty and does not reflect the interests of the students.

Furthermore, the aforementioned draft significantly limits the involvement of the main stakeholder at the university—the student—in university governance. It is planned that in a Board of Trustees (Management) consisting of 12 members, students will only have one representative (currently, there are 32 members, 8 of whom are students), which will render student involvement formal and ineffective. Moreover, while the existing law clearly establishes that students should be represented by 25% in the collegial governance bodies of the university, the new draft does not specify what the representation percentage will be for students in the academic (scientific) councils of universities and faculties.

The draft is also problematic from the perspective of university autonomy, as half of the members of the Management Councils will be appointed by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, while representatives from the university will only constitute 42% of the council. Additionally, a last-minute provision has been included in the draft regarding the appointment of university administrators by the Minister for up to 5 years, which contradicts the university autonomy enshrined in the Constitution of Armenia.

In a statement released on February 22, the YSU Scientific Council noted that without a framework for the development of higher education and science, a new draft law regulating the sector cannot be reasonable. The draft law has been criticized during discussions by both the academic community and students, and recently, the problematic aspects of the draft have also been addressed by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia. Therefore, we urge the Government of Armenia to withdraw the problematic draft and initiate work on strategies for the development of the sector.