CONTROVERSIAL LAYOFFS: FRENCH UNIVERSITY IN ARMENIA ENTERS SEPTEMBER AMID FACULTY STAFF ROW
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow
01.09.10 | 12:47
Education
French University Rector Joelle Le Morzellec (left) says teachers
were dismissed for not meeting the teaching standards.
About three dozen lecturers of a prestigious French-Armenian school in
Yerevan will see in the new academic year in the status of unemployed
after being controversially dismissed last month.
The administration of the French University in Armenia says the
reason for dismissing 29 lecturers was both the end of the term of
their employment contracts and their failure to meet the quality
requirements necessary to work for the university and failing to
adhere to the internal disciplinary norms of the institution.
“Sometimes teachers behave like students, are late for classes, fail
to implement programs and plans, do not provide [their students] with
reading lists, do not meet the standards of teaching a given subject,”
French University Rector Joelle Le Morzellec said at a press conference
on August 31, without, however, giving any particular names.
The French University in Armenia was established by the governments
of Armenia and France as part of an agreement on cultural, scientific
and technical cooperation signed in 1995. The University has operated
since 2000 and has a reputation for high quality education in Armenia.
In 2009 the University had more than 800 students.
Now 14 of the fired teachers have turned to court, as they disagree
with the decision and consider it illegal.
They say contracts with them were signed once, with some in 2007,
with others in 2008, for a period of one year, after which the term
of the contracts was not prolonged. In such cases, according to the
Armenian labor laws, employment contracts become indefinite.
The teachers tried to present their discontent during the rector’s
press conference, as, according to what ArmeniaNow learned later,
the University administration avoids meeting with them.
Former English Language Department Head Gayane Hakobyan stated angrily
that the rector’s explanation that they were dismissed because they
were unprofessional, was absurd. She presented to the media a number
of certificates confirming the professional skills of her and other
fired teachers.
The University’s financial and administrative affairs director
Vagharshak Meyroyan explained that the faculty’s employment contracts
had been extended until July 2010 by the rector’s order that each
lecturer could find in his information box. Meanwhile, according to
Meyroyan, some lecturers have not opened their boxes for so long that
they’ve become full and putting papers into them has become impossible.
Narine Kokhtieva, a French language instructor who has worked for the
French University for 10 years, told ArmeniaNow that as a matter of
fact teachers never check their information boxes, as they communicate
with the university administration via e-mail, but they never received
an e-mail message about the rector’s order on the extension of their
employment contracts.
“A person who has worked for 10 year is being thrown out into the
street like old clothes or shoes. They did everything so that no
dismissed teacher could find a job at any higher school today. I got
the notice of my dismissal in mid-August and whereever I applied, I
heard ‘sorry, but all vacancies are already filled’,” says Kokhtieva,
adding that even if there was such an order from the rector about
the prolongation of their contracts, that prolongation could not be
unilateral as they signed no documents.
The former faculty staff deny they were ever late for classes or
breached the disciplinary rules.
“If I were late, they should have warned me about that at least once
during 10 years,” says French language instructor Anush Mkhitaryan.
The lecturers say that they never had any conflict with the University
administration and do not understand the reason for their dismissal.
French University students, who are actively discussing this issue
through online social networks, mainly highly praise their former
lecturers, considering that due to them they have received excellent
knowledge.
From: A. Papazian