Student Union Critical but Optimistic

According to the European Students’ Union (ESU) press release, the Union is overall dissatisfied with the level of student mobility and participation in Armenia.

Founded in 1982 by several Western European student unions, the ESU is an umbrella organization that has grown eastward since the collapse of the Soviet bloc. It is currently composed of 49 unions including some powerful unions such as the left-leaning UNEF from France. Certain countries have more than one union represented. From Bulgaria, for instance, there are 2: UBS-Bulgaria and Nacionalno Predstavitelstvo na Studentskite Saveti v Republika Balgaria - NASC.

Some European CIS countries such as Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine already have member unions (Student Organizations League of Georgia – SOLG, Ukrainian Association of Student Self-government – UASS). Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia do not have ESU member unions yet.

Dual System

Invited by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the ESU representatives were in Armenia for a fact-finding visit 8-14 June 2008. According to the ESU press release, they were able to draw a clear picture of the situation thanks to a series of interviews that they carried out with the main actors of the HE sector. They met rectors, deputy ministers, trade unions as well as several bodies within the student movement; student councils, student NGOs, and the National Youth Council of Armenia (site in Armenian).

They concluded that the Armenian student movement is not fulfilling the 4 pillars of student representation mapped out in the Ljubljana Declaration. The Declaration basically calls for comprehensive, systematic and organized student participation in educational reform processes at both institutional and national levels.

According to ESU, what complicates the situation in Armenia (they call it “the most interesting challenge”) is the existence of strong informal systems parallel to the formal ones. Thanks to a high level of trust and friendship between certain individuals, the informal systems have access to information and are able to exercise considerable influence over decision-making processes. Whereas it is normally up to the formal structures, the elected student councils, to ensure effective student representation and participation.

Right Here, Right Now!

The ESU is however optimistic regarding the future of the student movement in Armenia. They state; “In several meetings, we were convinced by enthusiastic individuals that groups of students in every university are ready to take action” and “the fact that Armenia is just starting to implement the Bologna reforms, should be an encouragement for students to claim their participation in all debates on higher education right here, right now”.

The requirement for student participation in the reform process is one of the least known aspects of the Bologna Process in Armenia. Indeed, all the main constituents of the education sector, students in particular, are normally expected to take part in defining and implementing the reforms. However, the Bologna reforms in most Armenian institutions are being carried out top-down and based on a rather technical-administrative interpretation of the reform agenda. What one usually observes are, for instance, how certain courses are simply cut out to turn a 5-year program into a 4-year Bachelor’s degree, the introduction of a whole new set of documents and the relevant paperwork, or how certain course credits are assigned without reviewing the course sequences and the overall curriculum.

The more essential aspects of the Bologna Process, those that relate to its core purpose, are usually neglected (program flexibility and quality, student employability, etc.). It is therefore normal that students are not part of the process and, for that matter, neither are most of the faculty. This is of course for the time being.

I would like to join ESU in hoping to see our students become more involved in institutional decision-making processes. We do need duly elected and strong student councils as well as powerful student unions that act as dynamic partners in the transformation of Armenian higher education.

I would also like to wish that our student organizations as well as faculty structures become more connected with their peers elsewhere in Europe. Such direct horizontal relations, circumventing the Ministry of Education bureaucracy that has the bad habit of controlling everything and everyone, are essential if we want to be resourceful and equal members of the future European Higher Education Area.

The Armenian Economist on YSU Faculty Housing

The Armenian Economist has posted a comment signed by David, one of its contributors, on the Yerevan State University’s (YSU) housing project for young faculty. I had covered the issue in “Despite Manipulative PR, A Small Step in the Right Direction”.

Although David is happy that the government has finally taken a measure in favor of educators, he is not sure if the government’s approach is the best one and proposes several alternatives. (To read the Armenian Economist’s post, please click here).

It is in fact difficult to evaluate the current project as some crucial information is missing. In particular, it is not clear how the YSU Alumni Association has managed to lower the price by half (down to around 550 USD per square meter). Is it that they have not taken into account the land price (the land is already owned by YSU), is the differential coming from specific-purpose donations, is the Association partially financing the project, is the University financing it, or is it coming from the government budget? Each of these scenarios has a set of implications that can help determine the desirability of the project.

Other essential information that have not been disclosed are the criteria and the procedure of attribution of these apartments. All we know is that the project is targeted to young professors and that, according to the Alumni Association, the selection process has been long, fair and transparent.

Long and fair may be but transparent I am not sure. After all, we are left with all these questions unanswered. And the press, excited to see something being done for the academic community, has not even bothered to interrogate the Association or the University on the obscure aspects of the project.

And the worst is that we won’t probably know much more in the future either as the project has been transformed into a public relations item. This is good only for the lucky 261 families who will certainly move into their new apartments by the end of 2010. But I am sure in 2010 the project will be presented again as a proof of Mr. Serge Sargsian’s commitment and ability to implement his presidential program. No one will remember that the project had been initiated by the YSU Alumni Association and approved one year before Mr. Sargsian became president.