ARMENIA’S HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS SHOULD CONDUCT MONITORING TO JOIN EUROPEAN RATING SYSTEM

ARKA
September 18 2007

Armenia’s higher educational institutions should conduct monitoring to
join European rating system, said Armenia’s Minister of Education and
Science Levon Lazarian during his report in the closing conference on
"The strategic planning of the sphere of higher education: modern
experience and perspectives" launched in the State Engineering
University of Armenia (SEUA).

He said that higher educational institutions should estimate their
activity and possibilities due to some definite criteria.

"Every higher educational institution should determine its place in
the countries educational system, its problems and tasks.

Besides, higher educational institutions should estimate possibilities
of access to international level or to become an institution of a
regional importance," he said.

Lazarian pointed out that these results will be studied and assessed
in the Ministry of Science and Education and based on them the picture
of the stated educational system of Armenia will be visible.

"It is very important that our higher educational institutions were
fair and objective in conducting the monitoring and forming ratings,
as wrong information may harm Armenia’s authority," Lazarian said.

At present there are 16 state higher educational institutions in
Armenia as well as four institutions on the basis of interstate
agreements – Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) State University, French
University of Armenia, American University of Armenia and Institute
of Information and Communication Technologies of the European Regional
Academy.

The number of students in Armenia’s state higher educational
institutions totals 65,000. There are 72 private higher educational
institutions in the country with 25,000 students studying there.