Organized Chaos for the Sake of a Good Headline: This Approach is Nothing New

Yerevan State University Student Council President Davit Apoyan writes on his Facebook page: "Organized Chaos for the Sake of a Good Headline.

On December 10, the Government adopted a program aimed at compensating the tuition fees of students who participated in military operations for this semester. According to the program, students can certify their participation in military actions through a certificate provided by the military commissariat or by corresponding notes in their military books.

Now, a very predictable situation has arisen. Students who participated in the war are going to the military commissariat to obtain a certificate, but they are being told that they cannot provide a certificate due to identification issues, and moreover, they do not have such an order.

In this regard, I called the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (MoESCS) Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education Department for clarification. I received the following response: "We are aware of the issue, and even during preliminary discussions, we learned that this issue would arise, and we hope that in the best case, the Ministry of Defense will resolve the certificate or military book issue in January. At the request of the Ministry, universities will not require tuition fees from students who are likely to benefit from the program this semester."

So what is happening? The university will be forced to accommodate nearly all applicants because it lacks effective identification tools to determine whether the applicant participated in military operations. Expected budget revenues for the university will not be secured, which will increase financial problems. And it is unknown when the state will provide the certificate and reimburse tuition fees.

Thus, the Government has effectively approved the program, received good headlines in the press and applause; however, it left the implementation of the program to universities, creating new issues.

This approach is nothing new. Instead of supporting students truly affected by the coronavirus, the Government preferred the good headline "We Encourage Good Students," which resulted in many affected students being unable to pay their fees, leading YSU to make a compensation of 55 million drams, after which subsequent discounts on academic progress were reduced.

They're saying, 'Instead of fixing the problem, they took the eye with it.' I will do everything in my power to ensure that every student who participated in the war receives the deserved compensation. But under the government’s similar approach, by solving one problem, we will create new ones."