Latest press release from the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) –

*** Armenian student movement assessed with OSCE support ***

YEREVAN, 18 September 2008 – Although the Armenian students’ movement is not
yet fulfilling the four pillars of student representation, there is ample
enthusiasm to improve the picture, according to an assessment conducted by
the European Students’ Union. The report was commissioned by the OSCE Office
in Yerevan and presented for public discussion in Yerevan today.

The four main pillars of student democracy include openness to all students
to participate, a democratic decision-making process run by students,
representation of all students, and independence from the university
administrations, the government and party politics.

The European Students’ Union (ESU) is an umbrella organization of 49
national unions of students from 38 European countries representing the
interests of over 10 million students.

The report said that during its meetings, the assessment team was convinced
by enthusiastic individuals that groups of students in every university are
ready to take action. The report was written to draw the attention of the
Armenian higher education sector to the way students are represented.

"We hope that this report will provide food for thought and promote
discussion about the role of the student movement in Armenia, taking into
account the European experience in this regard," said Sven Holdar,
Democratization Officer at the OSCE Office. "We believe public debate about
student representation will contribute to developing a strong student
movement, which would help improve the quality of reforms in higher
education."

The study offers a number of recommendations, such as the need to improve
the flow of information to and from students, to ensure more pluralism in
debates, to give students autonomy over resources, to provide best-practice
guides and to revise legislation to make student bodies more independent.

Jens Jungblut from ESU added: "Our main consideration is that the
organization of students is primarily a responsibility of students
themselves, but a higher education system can ensure circumstances that
create a more conducive atmosphere to develop a strong student
representation structure."

The ESU experts visited Armenia in June at the invitation of the OSCE Office
to study the strengths and weaknesses of Armenia’s university student
councils. They held interviews with rectors, deputy ministers, trade unions,
student councils, student NGOs and the National Youth Council.

The assessment is part of the OSCE Office’s youth activities which aim to
promote the civic activity of young people within already existing bodies of
youth governance.

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please
visit:

For further information contact:

Gohar Avagyan
89 Teryan St.
375009 Yerevan
Armenia
Tel.: +374 10 54 10 62 (office) +374 10 54 58 45 (office)
Fax: +374 10 54 10 61

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress