The School Will Be Under Special Monitoring: Minister on Mezdavan School Incident

The incident at Mezdavan School reflects a lack of communication, insufficient work with the parental community, inadequate awareness of parental presence and participation, and numerous other issues. This was stated by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Zhanna Andreasyan, during a conversation with journalists.

The minister believes that such incidents are never just a one-day occurrence or the result of a single event. "This indicates that there have been problems at the school, which manifested in this form on that day. Today, our most important question is to understand why and how it became possible for such a situation to occur. Such situations arise when issues are not addressed properly and in a timely manner. If all stakeholders perform their duties properly and satisfactorily in a timely manner, problems may still remain, but they should not manifest in this way. This is also a reflection of a lack of communication, insufficient dialogue and interaction, and the fact that the parental community has not engaged sufficiently, along with numerous problems," said Andreasyan.

The minister reminded that an earlier statement had been made indicating that the school would be placed under special monitoring. The issue of appointing an acting principal is currently being discussed. "The school operates under the jurisdiction of the regional governor's office, so the appointment must be made by the governor. However, we are collectively discussing the issue of the acting principal. It is evident that we need a sufficiently experienced and skilled person who can manage the situation properly on-site," Andreasyan noted.

Various bodies will work as authorized entities under the regional governor's office. The minister believes that there needs to be involvement from both the inspection bodies and the Republican Pedagogical-Psychological Center, as well as other institutions, to address all layers of the problems and respond appropriately. Andreasyan considers the upcoming summer vacation to be a sufficient period for analyzing and properly addressing the issues.

According to her, in the new academic year, Mezdavan School should operate in a completely different environment—healthy, safe, and secure, where both teachers and students feel protected. Addressing the question of whether the history teacher will continue to teach at the same school or move to another one, Andreasyan responded: "I believe that no teacher should have to secure their continuation of work just because they are targeted there and working conditions are not created." This type of incidents must be excluded in this manner. As for what the teacher decides, I cannot say, but we, as a ministry, and all relevant bodies must ensure an environment where the teacher feels protected. Yes, the problems are multifaceted, but the most important issue here is that the teacher must feel protected at school. Any issue needs to be resolved in a way that prevents such situations from occurring. Regardless of what the problem was, what happened is not a way to solve issues," the minister added.

It should be noted that just days ago, an incident occurred at Mezdavan School in the Parakar community of Armavir Province, during which unacceptable behavior was directed towards a history teacher, involving the acting school principal, several teachers, students, and parents. The ministry responded to the incident by condemning what had occurred. Additionally, a decision was made to dismiss the acting principal from their position.