WHY THEY REMEMBER SCHOOLS AND HEALTH CARE WHEN THEY SAY CORRUPTION
Lragir.am
19 July 06
Agmak NGO (National Center for Monitoring of Liberalization) monitored
four directions of activities of the City Hall of Yerevan on a grant
provided by the state budget of Armenia. Agmak monitored auction
of land, the one window principle, education and the quality of
medicaid. The results of the monitoring were summed up on July 19.
The results are not reassuring.
The monitoring of three schools in each community in Yerevan showed
that the school councils do not work properly. Though in accordance
with the law a school council elects a director, there is a school in
Yerevan where the director changed the members of the school council.
Generally, as the chair of Agmak Lusineh Margaryan said, "in fact,
elections of school councils are not held at all". With regard to
raising money at schools on one occasion or another 36.8 percent
said this phenomenon is growing dangerously. "60 percent think the
school is corrupt." 60 percent think in senior school attendance is
unsatisfactory because schools fail to guarantee the level required
for universities. Only 4-5 percent pointed to the lack of adequate
control as the cause of low attendance.
The major complaint from medicaid is "if you do not pay, they are
not conscientious and are rude". 11.7 percent said medicaid does not
work and in polyclinics they demand that people pay. 41 percent always
or regularly pay doctors in polyclinics, 36.5 percent announced that
they pay to get normal medical service, 31.8 percent pay because they
are made to pay and only 19 percent pay because they want to pay.
57.4 percent of our citizens know about the one window principle in
the City Hall, 30 percent are satisfied. As 6 percent said they pay
doctors because it is a custom, 46.9 percent prefer direct meeting
with officials to the one window principle. 75 percent say after the
introduction of the one window principle the activities of the City
Hall declined or did not change.
Agmak monitored 40 decisions on sale and rent of land in 2005 and in
the first quarter of 2006. 40 decisions decided the fate of 360 plots
of land. 69 plots were sold for the same price. "It is true that
neighboring plots of land can be sold for a similar price but not
for the same price," says Lusine Margaryan, the chair of Agmak. In
most cases the price of auction was lower than the market price by
25 percent. "It means immense sums did not go to the state budget."
Agmak announced the results of the monitoring for the public. Now it
is not clear if the relevant bodies will use these results. Meanwhile
Agmak reports that the City Hall has a lot of work to do.