NKR President attends the meeting of the Artsakh State University Board

armradio.am
17.01.2009 12:12

President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan partook at the
enlarged meeting of the Artsakh State University Board and delivered
there a speech. After that the Head of the State answered questions
asked by the attendees and noted that such meetings will be of a
periodic nature. President Bako Sahakyan said in his speech:

`Dear attendees,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am glad for having an opportunity to meet you and discuss together
both problems the sphere of education and science of our republic faces
and mechanisms to solve them.

Education and science have traditionally served as basic means for
revealing, developing and applying our principal wealth, the
intellectual potential of the society. The future of a nation and a
state, the paces and prospects of the development of economy and its
different spheres to a great extent depend on education, specially the
higher one.

The sphere of education and science is of special importance to such
countries as Artsakh whose steady development is based on intensive
modes of production and science intensive technologies.

Education plays an invaluable role in the hard process of bringing up
the younger generation. Such crucial qualities as patriotism, fairness,
decency, law-abidance, which are the pillars of a civilized,
democratic, powerful and developed state, are shaped during the
educational processes. Hence, even a slight omission in the sphere of
education could lead to quite serious consequences for development of
the whole country in the future.

The role of education and science is becoming even more important
today, when we have on the agenda such issues as keeping pace with
civilized the civilized world, integrating with the international
community while simultaneously maintaining our identity and values of
centuries. Only the existence of a developed, modern and national
educational system can guarantee this.

For this very reason the development of the sphere is among the
priorities of our state and is permanently in the spotlight of the
authorities.

Some reforms are being carried out in the sphere to give a new impetus
to the development of the sphere of education and science and to adapt
it to modern requirements. Necessary steps have been taken to build,
renovate and modernize educational centers, to improve social and work
conditions of the faculty.

The state realizes consistent policies in this direction. In the 2009
state budget allocations to the sphere of education and science exceed
those of the 2008 by 24,7 percent or by 1,8 billion drams. The entire
volume of the allocated means amounts to 9,3 billion drams. In
comparison with the previous year in 2009 budgetary allocations to the
sphere of higher education have increased by 68,8 percent or 183, 3
million drams and constitute 450 million drams. Tangible increase has
been registered in salary and scholarship. I would like to note that
these trends will be of a continuous nature.

The Artsakh State University represents one of keystones of the
republic’s educational system. It plays an important role in the
development of education and science, preparation of professional
cadres and state building.

It is the result of 40-year long traditions that were further
strengthened during the years of the national liberation movement. 400
students of the university actively participated in the Artsakh war, 75
of them sacrificed their lives defending the Motherland. Eternal Glory
to them!

In the modern period the Artsakh State University faces different
problems of various nature and to find effective solutions to them it
is necessary comprehend the situation in a right way and estimate it
objectively. Wishful thinking is inadmissible for it only hinders the
amelioration of the situation further complicating it.

As an Alma mater of an independent state, the university should be main
educational and scientific center of the republic. I would like to
mention that here we face serious challenges, the most important being
an obvious disproportion of educational and scientific components. The
Artsakh State University lags behind in its mission to be the main
scientific center of the country. The fact that only the departments of
philology and humanities have published monographs in the 2007-2008
academic year speaks for itself. The share of these two departments in
the number of published scientific articles constitutes 55 percent. On
the other hand, the agricultural department has published only 4
scientific articles, occupying thus the last place among all the
departments. And this is against the background that agriculture
traditionally has been the backbone of our economy. I am hopeful that
the foundation of the branch of the Armenian State Agriculture
University in Artsakh will also highly contribute to the development of
science in the sphere of agriculture.

These figures give rise to serious conclusions. It is evident that
humanitarian spheres prevail in the scientific field of the university.
These spheres are undoubtedly very important and it is necessary
further develop scientific thought in this sphere.

At the same time, serious attention should be also paid to other
spheres of science in order to secure comprehensive development of the
state. It is praiseworthy that lectures of Artsakh State University
have published scientific articles in the sphere of technical sciences
abroad, particularly in Russia. However, it is concerning that within
the last two years no dissertation on technical sciences has been
defended. Necessary works must be carried out in the course of
developing technical sciences and a number of other fields.

We are well-aware that the above-mentioned issues cannot be solved by
Artsakh State University on its own. Here we need a systematic
approach, a combined work and a close co-operation between the
government, different state bodies and agencies as well as economic
players. This will enable to define real needs in different professions
on a scientific and precise basis as well and train qualified
specialists for different fields of economy.

The preparation of skilled specialists in accordance with modern
requirements presupposes continuous improvement of the quality of
education. Both the university’s faculty and the students have serious
work to do. The tasks put before the staff demand appropriate
professional skills, moral and psychological features.

The governing body of the university should pay serious attention to
raising the scientific level. Within this context I consider important
periodic trainings of the faculty, establishment of international
links, formation of scientific associations, active participation in
foreign conferences, as well as the establishment and expanding
relations between different scientific, educational institutions and
universities of Armenia, Diaspora and foreign countries.

In order to improve the quality of education it is also necessary
modernize material and technical basis, laboratories, cabinets and
lecture halls. I consider very much important the establishment of
electronic library, which will give a new impetus to the development of
the university’s scientific-educational potential.

To further improve the education process there should be introduced
some structural changes too. A number of sub-departments have to be
reformed and staffed with new qualified cadres.

I consider positive the foundation of the sub-department for
pre-recruiting preparation in Artsakh State University in the current
academic year, which is intended to improve preparation of specialists
in the sphere of basic military training. This will definitely
contribute to strengthening our country’s defensive capacity.

Within the context of developing education the readiness of Artsakh
State University to join the Bologna process is of special importance.
This will allow becoming a part of the European higher education space,
of course, taking into consideration the peculiarities of our country.

I hope that the credit system introduced in the new academic year will
have a palpable impact on the quality of education as well as on the
professional level of the faculty.

For Artsakh State University to carry out its work in an efficient
manner the availability of proper building conditions is of great
importance. The administrative building of the university recently put
into operation will assist to organize the conduct of classes in one
session, the new sports hall will be a serious stimulus on the way of
activating sports life.

In the process of improving the quality of education securing healthy
moral and psychological atmosphere in the university is of the utmost
importance. A consistent and persistent struggle should be waged
against any vicious phenomenon that contradicts to the high title of a
lecturer. I have been informed by the leadership of the university
about the appropriate steps taken in this direction. I also consider
important the fact that while struggling against this phenomenon for
the first time an attempt was made to combine the efforts of the
faculty, the students and their parents.

Dear attendees, the development and problems the vital sphere of
educational and science faces will continue to be in the spotlight of
the authorities of the state. I will personally follow the course of
reforms carried out in the sphere. I am confined that we will succeed
in having a modern and competitive educational and scientific system
and famous Alma Mater.
Thank you.’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress