Armenian Regional State College Fails to Accept 600 Students Due to Disputes

Today is September 1, but the Armenian Regional State College has not accepted around 600 students. The faculty members are speaking out about a series of irregularities committed by Angin Arshakyan, who was appointed as the director eight months ago.

One of the faculty members who contacted Auroranews.am, Maria Nazaryan, stated that under Director Angin Arshakyan's leadership, the college has faced numerous illegal and shameful issues. According to Nazaryan, Ms. Arshakyan has raised illegal tuition fees at the college, despite the fact that the director is not authorized to make unilateral decisions.

“She hasn’t even discussed the issue of increasing tuition fees in the pedagogical council, nor has she brought it up in the management council; she executes all processes as she pleases. How can a director not have discussions with two important councils and present falsified documents to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports about such discussions or decisions?” said the faculty member who alerted Auroranews.

Nazaryan mentioned that yesterday, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan visited the college and spoke with the staff. After Ms. Andreasyan's visit, the faculty were instructed by the ministry not to raise any noise about the issue, arguing that they should wait to see what would happen.

“Just two days ago, the faculty organized a protest in front of the college and was consistently streaming live to show what was happening; however, we received a call from the ministry telling us to delete all videos from our social media or we would all be fired,” Nazaryan stated.

She also noted that during the live stream, the director assaulted her, seized her phone, and threw it away. Faculty members also report that days ago, they found a notice on one of the college walls that indicated a fee plan listing various amounts for students who had lost their diplomas and needed to recover them.

“According to the law, such payments do not exist; this is disgraceful—that is, a graduated student must pay 20,000 drams to recover their diploma,” Nazaryan emphasized.

Faculty member Vahram Gevorgyan also spoke to us, stating that the director has made unlawful personnel changes by bringing in relatives and friends. According to the faculty, the director has repeatedly abused her official position, forcing staff and students to work in a greenhouse located on the college's premises, where vegetables were grown and the harvest was forcibly sold to the personnel.

We also sought comments from the college director Angin Arshakyan regarding the ongoing protests, to which she expressed regret and embarrassment over her colleagues' remarks. Regarding the increase in tuition fees, Ms. Arshakyan stated that she has never taken unlawful steps during her tenure.

“The increase in tuition fees is in their interest because I took over this college with terrible debts. In 2017, we were supposed to have a vocational school building, which was supposed to be handed over for operation in 2020. Instead of a building, there were only four walls, and the money was not there. We received refrigeration equipment but were presented with only paperwork; we only got an electronic board, and the rest of the property is missing,” the director added.

Regarding the holding of meetings, Arshakyan denied that they had taken place, stating that preliminary meetings had been held and she could provide evidence; however, she added that the meeting in which the authorized body confirmed the main rates for these tuition fees had not taken place.

According to Arshakyan's claims, until her administration, the staff regularly received bonuses, but after her appointment, the process of awarding permanent bonuses to certain individuals ceased.

“They paid 200,000 drams for a sack of chalk, I thought it was fertilizer, in the shape of balls. They bought chalk worth 2,000,000 drams, for what reason? And alongside all this, imagine that we have no expense articles aside from salaries and utilities,” the college director stated.

The director also spoke about the debt concerning water bills, saying that the water estimate is prepared once a year, and there had been no budgeted article prior to her tenure.

“It is an agricultural college; I have planted 2,000 seedlings in an area of 10,000 square meters. I have established a vineyard and a greenhouse because this year agricultural, farming, winemaking, and drip irrigation departments were opened. Where should the student do their internship, how should they learn? This is the reason we had a water debt, but this issue will be resolved in the next two days; I have spoken with the ministry,” the college director stated.

The director of the Armenian Regional State College, Angin Arshakyan, indicated that she plans to file a lawsuit tomorrow. Auroranews also contacted the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports to understand how they would comment on what is happening at the Armenian Regional State College.

In a conversation with us, the ministry's press secretary Gegham Melikbekyan stated that the ministry is aware of the ongoing situation and is taking the necessary measures to understand the issues and provide rapid solutions. When we asked whether it was possible that the ministry's call for the deletion of Facebook streams constituted a threat directed at faculty members, Melikbekyan responded, “No.”