MEETING WITH MILITARY COMMISSARS, INSTRUCTORS AND SCHOOL HEADMASTERS HELD IN ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 27 2006

A meeting with military commissars, military instructors and school
headmasters was held in the Armenian Defense Ministry, Monday. The
goal of the meeting was to discuss the issues of patriotic upbringing
of the youth.

In his opening speech, Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan
reminded that the Defense Ministry is interested in raising the
authority and role of school, as the majority of conscripts join the
army after school. The Minister appealed to the participants of the
meeting to focus on specific issues of current importance, and not
to think of them only in the course of today’s meeting.

In compliance with the Minister’s proposal, the participants pointed
out a number of problems to be solved and made some offers. According
to the Director of the Vazgen Sargsyan’s Military Institute, Stepan
Mirzoyan, 38 secondary educational institutions of Armenia out of
1342 have no military instructors. 68 military instructors out of
1416 working in educational establishments of Armenia and Karabakh
are at a pensionable age, and 507 – at the age of 51-64. It means
that there will shortly be a need of new personnel, S.Mirzoyan said.

211 military instructors have no military ranks, and 96 didn’t serve
in the army at all. 474 people have less than 5 years of experience,
360 – less than 10 years, and 539 – over 11 years. Only 79 instructors
got higher military education, 749 – higher civil education, and 588 –
secondary and specialized secondary education.

Demonstrating the data of the public opinion poll held among soldiers
of the rural regions, S. Mirzoyan noted that only 30% positively
appreciated the work of their schools’ military instructors. 70%
consider the instructors’ work to have a formal character. In a number
of schools there is a direct evidence of contemptuous attitude to
the subject. There is no room to store the training weaponry in 555
schools, which is explained by lack of an larm system. The latter
costs about 30 thousand AMD. "Hasn’t the school directorate such
money?", asked S.Mirzoyan. There is no playground in 396 schools,
and 223 schools have no room for primary military training. In this
connection, S.Mirzoyan offered to reinstate military instructors
as deputy directors of schools, to set up skilled commissions for
determining the professional suitability of military instructors,
as well as to solve the problem of uniforms for the instructors.

S.Mirzoyan noted that provision of daily uniforms will coast over 72
mln AMD, and the provision of field uniforms – over 52 mln AMD .

To note, the participants of the meeting were also Armenian Minister
of Education and Science Levon Lazarian, Chairman of the Parliament
Standing Commission for Education, Science, Culture and Youth Hranush
Hakobyan, Nagorno-Karabakh Army Commander Seyran Ohanyan, the NKR
Minister of Education Kamo Atayan.