During the question-and-answer session in the National Assembly today, the bill “On Higher Education” was discussed. Mikayel Melkumyan from the Tsarukyan bloc  mentioned that during the NA hearings, 23 speeches out of 24 expressed concerns about the law.

“We have agreed that you should form a scientific council where the chairman of the Academic Council should not be the rector of the university in order to create counterbalances. What happened during that time that the president of that council is expected to be the rector? Besides this, what does it mean that according to the Law on Higher Education, 70 is considered rector’s maximum age of working , but for other employees, the retirement age is the maximum age of working? Does the rector do something special that he should be seventy years old and the other be in retirement age” asked MP Mikayel Melkumyan from the Tsarukyan bloc to Levon Mkrtchyan.

Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan mentioned the example of several countries where the maximum age of working is 65.

“Georgia, up to 65 years old, in Latvia and Croatia- 65, Poland- 65, Oxford- 65. However, I agree with you that we can equate the age of the rector with others,” said the Minister of Education and Science.