Tense Situation at a School in Byurakan: Governor Attempts to Unjustly Dismiss Principal

Today, May 16, a tense situation has arisen in the Aragatsotn region, reports shamshyan.com. The entire teaching staff of the Byurakan Hovhannes Tumanyan Secondary School, over 500 students, and their parents have gathered in the school's yard, claiming that the governor of Aragatsotn has made an unfounded decision to dismiss the principal, Mkrtchyan.

“Ms. Mkrtchyan has been leading this school for 7 years, and during these years, the school has always flourished and thrived. The school has had no issues in those 7 years. We are very satisfied with both the principal and the teaching staff. We demand that the governor annul his decision to dismiss the principal, as this decision disrupts the peace of an entire village and school. As the great Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanyan said, ‘The work is immortal, know well, that it is spoken of through the ages. Blessed be he who, through his work, will achieve endless and unbroken existence.’ Now it turns out that the principal, who undertook the capital renovation of a damaged section of the school using her own resources, has not pleased the 'poor bureaucrats' of the governor's office. Perhaps they want to bring someone from the ruling party to take the principal's place. That would not be beneficial; this enormous collective will not tolerate it, and not just the collective, but also the village. We will not allow our children who study here to continue attending this school.

We have started a petition in the school's yard, and we will present it to the governor of Aragatsotn. If he does not take corrective measures and does not annul his unfounded order, we will resort to more drastic measures. As of now, a strike continues at the school.

The great Tumanyan also said, ‘Live, kids, but do not live like us.’ Now the governor is forcing our children to strike, not to participate in the educational process, and the number one responsible for this is the governor himself. So, this good collective that has been flourishing for 7 years is being disrupted due to an unfounded order. This is a school that has also produced heroes, including several from the Artsakh wars,” said one of the participants in the action during an interview with the source.