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NEW MINISTER ALARMED BY DECLINING EDUCATION STANDARDS
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty. Czech Rep.
June 13 2006
The newly appointed Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian pledged on
Tuesday to embark on a sweeping reform of Armenia's education sector
to reverse what he described as an alarming post-Soviet decline in
education standards.
"There is a clear decline in our education sector," admitted
Mkrtchian. "Armenia is gradually losing its high level of education.
We used to compared ourselves with European countries but are now
being compared to Central Asia."
"If we continue to move down this path, I am sure that we will lose
the remaining quality of our education system," he said.
Mkrtchian, who had already served as education minister in 1998-99
and 2001-03, acknowledged that he has also been responsible for the
ongoing erosion of that quality. It is widely attributed to a lack
of government funds channeled into education as well as the resulting
lack of motivation among schoolteachers and university professors.
Bribery and nepotism is also seen as a serious problem facing the
sector.
Government officials have said that Armenia's ongoing transition to
12-year primary and secondary schooling, supported by Western donors,
will help to reverse this trend. But according to Mkrtchian, that
reform alone will not improve the situation unless it is accompanied
by a "radical revision" of school curricula.
The minister, who is a leading member of the governing Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, also pledged to crack down on dozens
of private universities where education standards leave much to
be desired.
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty. Czech Rep.
June 13 2006
The newly appointed Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian pledged on
Tuesday to embark on a sweeping reform of Armenia's education sector
to reverse what he described as an alarming post-Soviet decline in
education standards.
"There is a clear decline in our education sector," admitted
Mkrtchian. "Armenia is gradually losing its high level of education.
We used to compared ourselves with European countries but are now
being compared to Central Asia."
"If we continue to move down this path, I am sure that we will lose
the remaining quality of our education system," he said.
Mkrtchian, who had already served as education minister in 1998-99
and 2001-03, acknowledged that he has also been responsible for the
ongoing erosion of that quality. It is widely attributed to a lack
of government funds channeled into education as well as the resulting
lack of motivation among schoolteachers and university professors.
Bribery and nepotism is also seen as a serious problem facing the
sector.
Government officials have said that Armenia's ongoing transition to
12-year primary and secondary schooling, supported by Western donors,
will help to reverse this trend. But according to Mkrtchian, that
reform alone will not improve the situation unless it is accompanied
by a "radical revision" of school curricula.
The minister, who is a leading member of the governing Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, also pledged to crack down on dozens
of private universities where education standards leave much to
be desired.