Author: Tambiyan Samvel

Armenia’s Public Schools: Some 500 Teacher Vacancies, Mostly in Villages

Tambiyan Samvel
01:09, September 2, 2017


There are at least 477 teacher vacancies in Armenia, a country touted as having 100% literacy and where on September 1, the first day of school, the country celebrated “Knowledge Day”.

This data doesn’t come from the Ministry of Education and Science, which says it has no exact teacher vacancy numbers, but from the country’s ten provincial administrations and various municipalities contacted by Hetq after the ministry failed to provide any numbers.

We say, “at least 477 teacher vacancies” because the education departments of Ararat and Armavir provinces and the Yerevan Municipality refused to provide their vacancy numbers.

The Ararat Provincial Administration referred Hetq to the Ministry of Education’s website, while the Armavir Provincial Administration said it had no listed vacancies. The Yerevan Municipality’s listing of teacher openings isn’t functioning.

Thus, the 477 number relates to the remaining eight provinces.

When a permanent teaching position opens at a public school in Armenia, the principal must post it in the official organ “Education” (Krtutyun) which then has to send it to the ministry for posting on its website.

Lori has the largest number of teacher vacancies, 220. Tavoush has 67, Syunik – 62, Gegharkounik – 50, Aragatzotn – 34, Kotayk – 29, Shirak – 9, Vayots Dzor – 6.

What all this means is that teachers in some schools must assume a greater workload. A history teacher might have to also fill in for the missing English instructor, and a math instructor might be asked to teach biology.

85% of the 477 teacher vacancies are in rural schools. Most qualified applicants are not interested in moving to some remote village to work. Take the example of Shirak’s Tzaghkout High School. A job opening for a Russian language teacher has been announced 25 times, but no one has applied. The position is now filled by someone with a psychology degree.

In Shirak’s Getashen High School, a person with a physics degree is teaching math. The school hasn’t been able to hire a mathematics teacher even after posting a vacancy announcement sixteen times since 2013.

A directive issued by the Minister of Education and Science in 2013 regarding qualifying exams for hiring teachers, says it’s not permissible for someone to teach a certain subject if they aren’t accredited in the subject, even if there is no winner for a certain vacancy.

Schools in remote mountainous communities and border villages can hire part-time qualified teachers to teach a subject if the vacancy isn’t filled by the qualifying competition. They can also hire individuals on the verge of acquiring accreditation or qualifying colleges and universities.

We asked the provincial administration to provide us with data as to how many vacancies were being filled by those not accredited in the subject to be taught.

The data we received from the Lori, Shirak and Syunik administrations reveals that, for the most part, vacancies are being filled with teachers accredited in a related subject, and in a few cases, with teachers who have no connection at all to the subject. For example, history teachers teaching biology, or mathematics.

Fire at Nairi plant was started deliberately – environmentalis (video)

Tambiyan Samvel
  • 17:42 | August 29,2017 | Economy
  • Armenian:
  • Rus

There have always been environmental problems connected with Nairit chemical plant in Yerevan, ever since the Soviet times. I think residents of nearby residential areas were to be evacuated after a fire burst out in the chemical plant yesterday, environmentalist Silva Adamyan said on Tuesday.

“Today we have cheated employees and looted plant,” she said.

The environmentalist thinks the fire at the rubber plant was started deliberately.

“… because we all know that they [the authorities] wanted to resell the plant and there were certain things that could not be shown publicly. This is a disgraceful situation. They set the plant on fire to hide the traces of looting,” she added.

BAKU: FM: If Armenia admits that principles voiced by Hoagland are not new, then substantive negotiations should be started

Tambiyan Samvel
AzerNews, Azerbaijan

Aug 25 2017
16:20 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov announced that if Armenian side admits that principles emphasized by Richard Hoagland are not new and they are accepting them, then substantive negotiations should be started.

Mammadyarov made the remark while talking to Azertac on a recent statement of the United States co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Richard Hoagland, on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution.

“The L’Aquile, Muskoka and Los Cabos statements by the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries reflected the key elements of a step-by-step settlement of the conflict on the basis of the Helsinki Final Act,” said Mammadyarov.

“These elements also constitute the fundamental basis of the updated Madrid principles. The same principles have been also emphasized by the United States co-chair, Richard Hoagland. The very first step in the sequence of principles, which are complementary to one another, is the withdrawal of Armenia’s troops from the occupied territories around the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. With the elimination of the fact of occupation, return of internally displaced persons to their native lands and implementation of necessary security measures should be ensured. It should also be noted that Armenia does not implement the demands of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict.”

Hoagland, addressing a round-table in Washington on August 24, stressed that territorial integrity is an important part of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“There can be no settlement without respect for Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and the recognition that sovereignty over these territories must be restored,” he said.

The statement caused serious concern and panic in Armenia’s political leadership. There were voiced statements that are contradictory at different levels and one denies another one. Lately, Armenian officials stated that these principles are not new.

Mammadyarov further stressed that the Armenian people will be able to benefit from the cooperation opportunities that the conflict resolution would create.

“The Azerbaijani side has repeatedly stated that it is ready for serious negotiations to change the current status quo, which is considered as an unacceptable by the Heads of State of Minsk Group Co-chair countries and to ensure the soonest settlement of the conflict and the lasting peace in the region,” he said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan’s territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

More than two decades have passed since the ceasefire agreement. For all these years, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been supposed to find a solution by peaceful means. However, the reluctance of Armenia does not let to end the conflict and to restore peace in the South Caucasus.