Expectations, plans, hopes¦

26-05-2007 13:32:34 – KarabakhOpen

I want to wish good luck to high school students. They haven’t
finished yet, they still have to take final exams, but they are ready
for a new life in the world of adults: a year of hard work,
expectations, plans, hopes.

This year only 776 out of 2154 high-school students have applied for
the integrated state exam. It means only one third of high school
students will go to university. For Karabakh, it is not a high number
because recently 90 percent of high school students have been going to
university. This year 826 graduate from Artsakh State University
only. There are 7 other universities¦

If some enter the university for prestige, for others it is a way
which has no alternative. For they have to choose between the hard
work of a builder, even though the pay is not low, or a `white collar’
in office. And many prefer the second.

There is much to do in the sphere of education. They have already set
out: integrated state exam, 12-year school, a new vocational
college. But lots of things are not clear yet. For instance, how about
the entrance exams, what will the children who do not take the
integrated state exam be doing, how will knowledge be assessed?

Transition is always difficult, you cannot avoid scratches. And one
generation always suffers. The government is supposed to sooth this
transition. Therefore, it is necessary to set clear-cut rules and
most importantly not to break them. And in this sense the work of the
Ministry of Education and Culture is reassuring.