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RULES FOR LICENSING PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES TO BE TIGHTENED IN ARMENIA
/ARKA/
OCTOBER 6, 2011
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, October 6. /ARKA/. Armenian National Assembly passed today
the package of amendments to the higher and post-graduate professional
education and on licensing at the first reading.
These amendments imply tighter rules for licensing of private
universities.
Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan, presenting the bill
to lawmakers, said that the ministry proposes substantial revision
of the licensing process.
~SWe must react to any breach of license terms by taking decisive
actions to ensure proper quality to education,~T he said.
The authors of the amendments propose to oblige licensees to submit
reports and the information confirming that their universities are
located in the places indicated in their applications.
Ashotyan said that many university owners who have got their licenses
in Yerevan by saying they will run education process in buildings
which meet certain requirements, in fact run their activities outside
of the capital in improperly equipped buildings.
Our laws imply no instruments for imposing sanctions in such cases.
The bill also proposes to differentiate licenses for running the
education process ending in provision of bachelor degree and the
education resulting in provision of master degree.
"There is only one license for providing higher education without
differentiation between bachelor and master degrees, while they differ
from each other by programs and requirements to them," Ashotyan said.
The bill proposes to indicate education methods.
The minister said that it is necessary to amend also the law on state
duty to oblige universities to pay annual duty for their licenses. If
so, the university owners will be responsible for their licenses and
education in the specialties they indicate in their applications.
"Sometimes one university simultaneously provides medical juridical,
economic, pedagogical and veterinary education," Ashotyan said. "There
are also universities having dozens of licenses but providing education
in four or five specialties."
The proposed amendments also empower the education ministry to warn
and fine licensees as well as to void their licenses. Universities,
on their side, can dispute the ministry's decision in court.
"There were some 90 private universities in Armenia in 2000," the
minister said. "Only 70 of them remained in 2009, and now, thanks to
our policy, universities are merging, and their number has already
contracted to 35. But even this number is too large for our small
country, and obvious is that existing resources are insufficient for
providing high-quality education in these 35 private and 22 state-owned
and interstate universities."
/ARKA/
OCTOBER 6, 2011
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, October 6. /ARKA/. Armenian National Assembly passed today
the package of amendments to the higher and post-graduate professional
education and on licensing at the first reading.
These amendments imply tighter rules for licensing of private
universities.
Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan, presenting the bill
to lawmakers, said that the ministry proposes substantial revision
of the licensing process.
~SWe must react to any breach of license terms by taking decisive
actions to ensure proper quality to education,~T he said.
The authors of the amendments propose to oblige licensees to submit
reports and the information confirming that their universities are
located in the places indicated in their applications.
Ashotyan said that many university owners who have got their licenses
in Yerevan by saying they will run education process in buildings
which meet certain requirements, in fact run their activities outside
of the capital in improperly equipped buildings.
Our laws imply no instruments for imposing sanctions in such cases.
The bill also proposes to differentiate licenses for running the
education process ending in provision of bachelor degree and the
education resulting in provision of master degree.
"There is only one license for providing higher education without
differentiation between bachelor and master degrees, while they differ
from each other by programs and requirements to them," Ashotyan said.
The bill proposes to indicate education methods.
The minister said that it is necessary to amend also the law on state
duty to oblige universities to pay annual duty for their licenses. If
so, the university owners will be responsible for their licenses and
education in the specialties they indicate in their applications.
"Sometimes one university simultaneously provides medical juridical,
economic, pedagogical and veterinary education," Ashotyan said. "There
are also universities having dozens of licenses but providing education
in four or five specialties."
The proposed amendments also empower the education ministry to warn
and fine licensees as well as to void their licenses. Universities,
on their side, can dispute the ministry's decision in court.
"There were some 90 private universities in Armenia in 2000," the
minister said. "Only 70 of them remained in 2009, and now, thanks to
our policy, universities are merging, and their number has already
contracted to 35. But even this number is too large for our small
country, and obvious is that existing resources are insufficient for
providing high-quality education in these 35 private and 22 state-owned
and interstate universities."