ARMENIA STUDENTS PAY MONEY NOT TO LEARN

Trend News Agency
Dec 23 2008
Azerbaijan

"We’re not teaching our children to learn. The main function of
kindergarten must be to teach how to learn. Parents must start
preparing their children for school at home," said today Minister
of Education and Science Spartak Seyranyan during a year-in-review
press conference.

In regard to the credit system in the universities, Seyranyan
noted that many students don’t know what that means and the worst,
according to him, is that many students don’t even want to know what
it is. "Today, students pay money not to learn. In general, college
students are the most passive. They are indifferent to the solution
to their issues," says the minister.

Seyranyan also said that by the end of the year, the ministry will have
checked all universities for completion of licensing. "After that, I
won’t be surprised to see some universities returning their licenses,"
underlined Seyranyan. Becoming a full member of the European Quality
Register, the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia is going
to pay special attention to the quality of professional teaching at
the universities. Any university that fails to meet the standards set
by the register will be disqualified and that refers to both state
and private universities.

In 2009, one of the main goals of the ministry will be the
military-patriotic education of children.

In the fight against money collecting in schools, the ministry had a
hotline this year and many cases were registered. But at the end of
the year, the number of complains has reduced.

"I want to point out that the ministry’s police is not aimed at
punishing or firing workers. We want to correct the errors and help
schools," said Spartak Seyranyan adding that in 2009, the ministry
will continue to implement the programs that are already underway,
reported A1+.