On 14 November at 15:00, the regular meeting of the Public Council under the Minister of Education and Science took place. Head of Partnership and Teaching NGO Artashes Torozyan, President of “Union of Armenian Communities” Emin Yeritsyan, Deputy Minister of Education of the Republic of Armenia Lusine Arakelyan, Head of Pre-School and Secondary Education Policy Development and Analysis Department Susanna Makyan, Lawyer of “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” Lusine Nalbandyan, members of the Public Council under the Ministry of Education and other participants were present.
The main issues of discussion during the session was the procedure for the formation of the Councils of the collegial management body of the state non-commercial organization of the general education state institutions; the main issues of the new governance system, the revised approaches to the formation of the Council, the definition of their functions and the choice of directors: the peculiarities of the activities of the Councils as SNCOs; and the purpose of the counsel?
Syusanne Makyan, Head of the Pre-school and Secondary Education Policy Development and Analysis Department of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, reported on the proposed changes. In her speech she mentioned that during the meeting they present the provisions that can be changed immediately because there are definitely radical issues as well. Specifically, she suggested that the Council should consist of 9 members, and members of the Council may also nominate the pedagogical staff for three years and the Parents’ Council. That is to say, it is envisaged to implement such mechanisms that the actions of the Councils shall be supervised. She also mentioned that they should be accountable. Chairman of the Partnership and Teaching NGO Artashes Torozyan mentioned that there is the issue of competency of the composition of the Councils. The experience of the former members has not been transferred to the new ones. It should be really thought about the capabilities of the directors. There was an opinion that the directors are not eternal and there is a problem of spending financial resources, as the Ministry of Education and Science cannot train them every three years.
Another participant suggested that capacity building and sharing of experiences is not carried out by the Ministry, but rather but a former retired member of the Council. This participant also pointed out that the principle of decentralization of the Council is good, but not in all circumstances because there is a risk that the director does everything to maintain his position.
Summing up, Lusineh Arakelyan, Assistant to the Minister of Education and Science, noted that this would be a pilot program and added that establishing a requirement of age limitation of teachers’ experience in the Pedagogical Council is not always contextual. And if the pedagogue has already passed the vacancy tender, he/she has the right and can work. Similar restrictions should not be placed for the age of the principal, as it limits the opportunities.
As a result of the session, there was also an opinion that while implementing the changes introduced according to the new procedures of the Councils, enlargement of communities that currently is taking place in Armenia shall be considered as well. The issue of the kind of the observation mission to be held as well as other issues that need clarification and finalization were discussed as well.
