Video: No University Should Exist in Yerevan, Says Pashinyan

President Vahagn Khachaturyan participated in a meeting of the Economic Policy Council held at the Central Bank's Dilijan Research Center. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan opened the meeting.

According to the President's office, a wide range of issues regarding the priorities of economic policy, ongoing reforms, and solutions to existing problems in Armenia were discussed during the meeting. Pashinyan stated that the challenges in the higher education sector are profound: "There are 60 universities in Armenia. Sixty universities mean 60 rectors, 120 pro-rectors, several hundred deans, and nearly 1000 deputy deans... It is not surprising when we talk about reforms in the higher education system; we feel that certain tensions arise because we are discussing the potential deprivation of status for hundreds, thousands of people from their perspectives. But this is about realizing and developing our country's potential. If we certify Armenian universities according to international standards, the standards that exist in the EU, no university in Armenia will achieve certification. Today, we do not have any university that is accredited by European standards and obtains a license for higher education activities. In this regard, the academic town is an extremely important and strategic program for us. We need to expand the dialogue with the higher education and scientific system and with society. We say that ultimately, in the long term, no university should exist in Yerevan; no university should exist outside the academic town, and all Armenian universities, both private and public, should operate only within the academic town."

For more details, see the video.