Ministry of Education is Unyielding: Changing the Formation Procedure of University Boards

According to the newspaper «Hraparak», despite President Armen Sargsyan applying to the Constitutional Court regarding the "Law on Higher Education and Science", the Ministry of Education and Science has decided not to wait for the conclusion of the review and has presented a draft government decision for public discussion, which changes the procedure for forming university boards. The number of members will be reduced from 32 or 24 to 20.

With the new regulations, 55% of the 20-member board will be appointed by the government, 10% by the Ministry of Education, 10% by the university's academic staff, and 25% by the student body. Under the current rules, representatives from the government, the Ministry, academic staff, and students held equal shares of 25% each.

Essentially, the government has decided at any cost to dismantle the independence of universities and make them manageable, and this urgency is primarily conditioned by the situation created at Yerevan State University. The acting rector of YSU has submitted a resignation letter, and the board of trustees has been dissolved. According to the new rules, they will elect the desired board members and make a preferred candidate the rector. However, when the Constitutional Court recognizes this provision as unconstitutional, it will not have retroactive effect.