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English School Idea Splits Armenia

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  • English School Idea Splits Armenia

    ENGLISH SCHOOL IDEA SPLITS ARMENIA
    BY HASMIK HAMBARDZUMYAN

    Columbia Daily Tribune
    http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/jun/01/english-school-idea-splits-armenia/
    June 1 2010
    YEREVAN

    Armenia -- In an echo of the debate over bilingual education that
    raged in the United States for years, writers, opposition groups
    and nationalists are protesting plans to allow Armenian schools to
    conduct classes in English.

    These opponents claim the move would relegate the Armenian language
    to second-class status.

    "This presents a great danger to the independence of Armenia. Armenian
    will become a domestic language, and our independence will exist only
    on paper," said Vahan Ishkhanyan, an influential blogger and former
    editor of Ankax newspaper.

    Current law requires that Armenian be used in all classroom
    instructions.

    But Ruben Vardanyan, an ethnic Armenian billionaire, wants to change
    that. Vardanyan has proposed building a major financial center in the
    town of Dilijan. For his plan to succeed, he needs workers who are
    proficient in English. A bill to allow the use of English in schools
    has already been introduced in Parliament.

    Education Minister Armen Ashotyan has promised that only a small
    number of non-Armenian language schools could be opened under the law.

    In addition, Armenian would be a compulsory subject even in all-English
    schools, and only children 10 and older would be allowed to enroll
    in English schools. He also stressed that such schools would be
    privately financed.

    "The logic of the law is to give the possibility to investors,
    organizations or individuals who want to open such schools," he said.

    But those who oppose the bill see another type of logic.

    "A slow but irreversible process will start, where parents looking
    for the best education for their children will prefer instruction in a
    foreign language. These pupils, receiving a more successful education,
    will get into the best universities, take the leading positions in the
    private and public sectors and form a foreign-language elite," said
    an open letter by opponents to the principal of a school in Dilijan.

    Among groups opposing the initiative are the President's Public Council
    and the Union of Writers of Armenia, as well as the opposition parties
    Heritage and the Armenian National Congress.

    Marine Petrosyan, a writer whose work has appeared in numerous
    literary publications, thinks the government will abandon plans to
    open foreign-language schools.

    "I think the government is clever enough to remove this proposal,"
    she said. "It is clear that opposition in society is very strong,"
    she said.

    Hasmik Hambardzumyan is a reporter in Armenia who writes for The
    Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a not-for-profit organization
    that trains journalists in areas of conflict.

    This article was published on page A5 of the Tuesday, June 1, 2010
    edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune. Click here to Subscribe.




    From: A. Papazian
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