Government Aims to Achieve Something in Education Sector at the Expense of Teacher Salaries: 'Zhoghovurd'

“Without education, yes, it is possible to create some degree of material welfare, but it is impossible to fly to space without education. And you, as proud citizens of the Republic of Armenia, walk the proud path of knowledge, education, and learning, and set high standards for yourself to change your city, change your country, and change the world,” stated the Prime Minister of Armenia during the opening ceremony of the No. 153 primary school named after Rafael Ishkhanian on September 15 last year.

“An average citizen of the Republic of Armenia should have higher education by the age of 22, and should know three languages,” the Prime Minister mentioned on April 22, 2019. However, the government of Nikol Pashinyan is implementing the exact opposite of his words; the funding for the education sector has been seriously jeopardized, and the guarantees that were established during the rejected tenure of Serzh Sargsyan in the 'Law on Education' have now been removed by Pashinyan.

The 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper has learned that the government made secret, non-reporting changes yesterday to the 'Law on Education' of the Republic of Armenia. Specifically, the cabinet has recognized paragraph 2 of article 46 of the Law O-297 of April 14, 1999, as void, which states: “The state guarantees funding for educational needs in each new academic year, ensuring a volume that maintains its continuity. The percentage share of education funding in the current expenditures of the state budget should not be less than the corresponding indicator of the previous budgetary year.”

This means that the salaries of employees of preschool and school institutions may be significantly reduced, while the work of teachers and kindergarten staff is considered quite burdensome and is supposed to be guaranteed by the state. The author of the proposal is the Ministry of Finance of Armenia, represented by Minister Atom Janjughazyan. According to our information, during closed-door discussions of the government, he stated that since there are no financial investments in the country, we need to allocate internal resources to overcome financial difficulties. This means that Janjughazyan wants to maintain economic stability at the expense of the education sector and teacher salaries.

It should be noted that Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan did not give his consent to this initiative, and he has sent objections. However, the government has accepted this comprehensive package of projects, which also concerns the Office of the Human Rights Defender, whose guaranteed funding will likewise be reduced; a press conference is scheduled with the ombudsman today regarding this matter,” the newspaper reports.