WHO IS TO BLAME? EIGHT YEAR-OLD VARDAN HASN’T SEEN THE INSIDE OF A CLASSROOM
Grisha Balasanyan

avan/
2009/08/24 | 16:11

Feature Stories society

When we traveled to the Banavan neighborhood of Vardenis to visit the
family of Samvel Poghosyan, the kids were fighting over a bottle of
"matzoun" bought at the store. Grabbing the bottle, each was trying
to empty its contents on the plate in front of them before the others.

The parents and four children live in a building whose residents had
complained to "Hetq" days earlier about how the government treats their
concerns with disregard. (See: )
"You can say that we are renters here. We petitioned Serzh Sargsyan and
he said to go to the Regional Administration. I went there and they
sent me to the Department of Social Services. They sent me somewhere
else. My papers have been on file with the Regional Administration
for three years and nobody takes responsibility," Samvel complained to
"Hetq".

Staffers at the Gegharkunik RA promised to get back to us soon with
details of the case.

Samvel has second-degree disabilities. In 1994, during the Artsakh
War, he stepped on a mine and miraculously survived the blast. He
receives a 50,000 AMD monthly disability pension. "I have four kids
and haven’t received assistance from anyone. I’ve applied all over
the place, the vets department, everywhere. They all have my name on
file but don’t give a damn. They tell me to be patient, that things
will work out fine. But how long can I wait; till when?" Samvel asked

Due to their dire financial straits, the parents won’t be sending their
8 year-old son to school this year as well. He should have enrolled
last year but never did for the same reason; lack of money. The
boy’s parents held out hope that this year would be different, that
conditions would improve and that they’d be able to send Vardan to
school. Sadly, things haven’t worked out the way they had hoped.

Vardan’s mother says they can’t afford school expenses

We asked Gohar Yeranosyan, Samvel’s wife, if it was possible to take
a small amount of the 50,000 pension and the 24,000 in financial aid
that they receive and put it towards the boy’s schooling.

"I have four young kids and a husband who’s half a man due to his
disabilities and can’t work. We have no home and no hope for the
future; that our kids will grow up normal. We live on the pension
and help from the Paros organization. Let me ask you something –
could you survive with four kids on just what we get? I don’t think
so. My girl goes to school and every month I have to pay for this
or that. I’m forced to go to the neighbors for a loan. I could hang
my head in shame. All I know is that my Vardan is now eight and he
probably won’t be going to school until he’s ten. He should’ve gone
last year but we put it off till this year. It’s impossible this year
as well. What will become of us I can’t say. Kids his age are already
in the second grade, but he hasn’t stepped foot into a classroom,"
she answered.

We talked with Vardan and he told us that he’d really like to go to
school but that his parents don’t send him. "I want to go but father
says there’s no money. He’s right. There’s no money, so how can I go?"

Samvel told us that last year, when he sent his daughter to school,
the state was obligated to make a one-time payment of 20,000 AMD to
them as a family receiving government assistance. They never paid them
the money. "They told me that I wasn’t registered as a town resident;
that I was registered in the village of Akunk. But my kid goes to
this school and I’ve been living here for a few years now. Now that
we need some money they’ll find any excuse not to pay us. They don’t
give me this problem when they want my vote at election time. They
don’t care where I’m officially registered."

Vardan begs on the street

Not going to school, Vardan has picked up a bad habit from being
idle. He stands on the side of the road and asks people he knows for
a handout. He did the same to us. When we got into the car, he ran
up to us and demanded some money. When I asked him what he would buy
with the money, he ran away.

Mamikon Galoyan, who runs the Children’s Rights Division at the
Gegharkunik Regional Administration, told "Hetq" that there were no
school age children in the region not attending class. When we told him
about Vardan, Mr. Galoyan said, "I am glad that you were able to come
across a child not attending school. Let me tell you that the parents
of that boy have never come to us for assistance. In the first place,
it is the local charitable and municipal organizations that must look
into the problem. If they cannot resolve the issue, only then must they
forward the case to us. I should tell you that they haven’t done so."

Mr. Galoyan assured us that eight year-old Vardan would be going to
school come September. "We will visit the boy’s home and evaluate
the situation. We see whether the family actually cannot afford to
send the boy to school or are there other factors involved. If the
reason is socio-economic and say the parents can’t afford to buy the
boy decent clothes then we might be able to resolve the problem with
the assistance of this or that international organization."

He stated that it was the boy’s parents that were mostly to blame since
they have failed to inform the proper authorities about their problems.

Vardenis Mayor Volodya Khloyan also wasn’t aware that there was a
child in his community not attending school. "For pity sake, why
didn’t they come see me? Tell them to come round and see me. I’ll
take care of the matter."