The “Restart” initiative of Yerevan State University has reached Komitas State Conservatory.
Students at the university organized their first debate, during which they raised their concerns.
The private discussion was also closed to journalists. Students also did not want to give an interview, stressing that they did not want the public to know their complaints.
The students did not speak, but instead the rector answered the questions of the journalists.
“We need to restart the whole country and, in particular, our musical art performance, with small steps,” said the Rector Shahen Shahinyan, welcoming the initiative.
In general, the rector is proud of the students’ civic activism.
“What our students did can be written in the Guinness Book of Records, this is the restart.”
The rector agrees that the tuition fees are high and maybe that is the reason for the protest. The annual fee for study at Yerevan State Conservatory amounts to 800,000 for Vocal Art and 700,000 drams for other majors.
The state allocates 60 places per year to study at Komitas Conservatory’s free education system, and the number of students entering the university varies from 200 to 250.