The School Has One Graduate, Three First Graders: A Journalist on the Azerbaijan Border Village

Journalist Voskanyan Sargsyan’s account:

“The secondary school in the border village of Barekamavan, part of the large Novyemberyan community, is named after its graduate, Mayis Qarakeshishyan, who fell while defending Barekamavan. In front of the school stands a bust of the freedom fighter. In the 2021-2022 academic year, the school had only 13 students, and there were no first, third, fifth, or sixth grades. This year, the school had one graduate, Aravik Virabyan, and in September, it will welcome three first graders. Almost everyone in the sparsely populated Barekamavan participates in the Last Bell ceremony.

Barekamavan is the most remote and border village of Tavush province, adjacent to Azerbaijan. Since Soviet times and after Armenia gained independence, the emigration from Barekamavan has significantly increased. In the mid-1970s, the eight-year school had 330 students, and ninth and tenth graders continued their studies in the secondary schools of Koti and Novyemberyan.

For almost two years, the renovation of the school roof has been left unfinished; when it rains or snows, water drains into the building. The then governor of Tavush, Haik Chobanyan, presented to the philanthropists that 8.5 million drams would be enough for the school roof renovation, but later calculations showed that 12 million drams are necessary for completion.

Russian philanthropists collected 8.5 million drams to renovate the school roof, but only half of the roof has been repaired. The funds were insufficient to complete the renovation, and the work has been stalled since September 2020. The construction materials needed for the roof renovation are available, but there is no money to pay the workers.

No support has been provided from the Armenian state budget for this purpose. The Barekamavan school, like the whole village, suffers from a lack of drinking water, and the quality of water supplied from the local deep well is also poor.

Due to the large-scale emigration that intensified during the years of Armenia's independence, mostly children from socio-economically disadvantaged families have remained in the remote border village. Most of their parents have only received secondary or eight-year education.

There is no kindergarten in Barekamavan, and the children at the school have not received preschool education. There are no cultural centers operating in the village.”