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FORMER ALLIES 'AT WAR': RPA, PAP IN FRESH DISAGREEMENT OVER STUDENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Education | 21.11.13 | 15:27
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
related news
Like in "good old days": RPA, PAP in for another local election clash
War of words: Former allies in verbal duel over "corruption" comment
Fighting between the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and
its former coalition partner, tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan-led Prosperous
Armenia Party (PAP) has shifted from the political and sport fields
onto the educational sector.
The two former allies are now at war over the activities of the Gagik
Tsarukyan Charitable Foundation that wants to assign scholarships and
stipends to needy university students but claims to have encountered
obstacles allegedly set by the RPA-controlled ministry.
The Foundation, which has been engaged in charity activities that
are often associated with PAP leader Tsarukyan, claims to have been
barred from providing assistance to students, implying that this may
well be a political decision.
And although the Ministry of Education and Science has stated that in
case of a formal application from the Foundation's governing bodies
the Ministry is ready to cooperate with it in the matter of financial
assistance to students, PAP representatives are not in a hurry to
express their position.
"If the Ministry is ready, then we had earlier expressed our readiness
and expect concrete steps," says PAP lawmaker Vahan Babayan, who
coordinates the youth programs carried out by the Gagik Tsarukyan
Foundation.
About a month ago the Foundation turned to universities asking them to
provide it with lists of students from poor families who have shown
good progress but have financial difficulties. It said that it was
ready to pay lump-sum scholarships to some of them in the amount of
100,000 drams (about $250) or give them monthly stipends. However,
thanking the Foundation for the initiative, the state-run universities
asked it to turn to the Ministry of Education and Science first and
further implement the program through the Ministry.
Babayan and PAP Youth Union head Vahe Enfiajyan say they sent a
letter to the Ministry regarding the matter and insist that they have
not received a reply yet. Enfiajyan also raised the matter in the
National Assembly earlier this month. Both PAP members particularly
emphasize the circumstance that no reply has been received by the
Gagik Tsarukyan Foundation and because of that numerous students who
need that assistance suffer today. What they find odd is that in the
meantime Minister of Education Armen Ashotyan wrote on his Facebook
account that RPA-affiliated lawmaker Samvel Alexanyan's foundation has
allocated 200,000 drams (about $500) to 100 students from poor families
each and thanked the pro-establishment tycoon for his generosity.
Speaking to media on Wednesday Ashotyan said that they did not leave
the PAP lawmakers' letter unanswered (the copies of them have been
posted on the Ministry's website, but the PAP representatives say that
they haven't yet received the letters sent on November 4) and expressed
his bewilderment as to why problems always arose particularly with
the Gagik Tsarukyan Foundation and why they don't act in accordance
with the prescribed order.
The minister stressed that the letters had been sent on party
letterhead in the case when PAP representatives have repeatedly stated
that the party and the foundation as two separate entities.
"Is it the letterheads that are an obstacle to assistance to needy
students? After all, this assistance is the display of goodwill,"
commented another PAP lawmaker Tigran Urikhanyan in response.
http://www.armenianow.com/society/education/50264/armenia_republicans_prosperous_armenia_party_schol arships_education
Education | 21.11.13 | 15:27
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
related news
Like in "good old days": RPA, PAP in for another local election clash
War of words: Former allies in verbal duel over "corruption" comment
Fighting between the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and
its former coalition partner, tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan-led Prosperous
Armenia Party (PAP) has shifted from the political and sport fields
onto the educational sector.
The two former allies are now at war over the activities of the Gagik
Tsarukyan Charitable Foundation that wants to assign scholarships and
stipends to needy university students but claims to have encountered
obstacles allegedly set by the RPA-controlled ministry.
The Foundation, which has been engaged in charity activities that
are often associated with PAP leader Tsarukyan, claims to have been
barred from providing assistance to students, implying that this may
well be a political decision.
And although the Ministry of Education and Science has stated that in
case of a formal application from the Foundation's governing bodies
the Ministry is ready to cooperate with it in the matter of financial
assistance to students, PAP representatives are not in a hurry to
express their position.
"If the Ministry is ready, then we had earlier expressed our readiness
and expect concrete steps," says PAP lawmaker Vahan Babayan, who
coordinates the youth programs carried out by the Gagik Tsarukyan
Foundation.
About a month ago the Foundation turned to universities asking them to
provide it with lists of students from poor families who have shown
good progress but have financial difficulties. It said that it was
ready to pay lump-sum scholarships to some of them in the amount of
100,000 drams (about $250) or give them monthly stipends. However,
thanking the Foundation for the initiative, the state-run universities
asked it to turn to the Ministry of Education and Science first and
further implement the program through the Ministry.
Babayan and PAP Youth Union head Vahe Enfiajyan say they sent a
letter to the Ministry regarding the matter and insist that they have
not received a reply yet. Enfiajyan also raised the matter in the
National Assembly earlier this month. Both PAP members particularly
emphasize the circumstance that no reply has been received by the
Gagik Tsarukyan Foundation and because of that numerous students who
need that assistance suffer today. What they find odd is that in the
meantime Minister of Education Armen Ashotyan wrote on his Facebook
account that RPA-affiliated lawmaker Samvel Alexanyan's foundation has
allocated 200,000 drams (about $500) to 100 students from poor families
each and thanked the pro-establishment tycoon for his generosity.
Speaking to media on Wednesday Ashotyan said that they did not leave
the PAP lawmakers' letter unanswered (the copies of them have been
posted on the Ministry's website, but the PAP representatives say that
they haven't yet received the letters sent on November 4) and expressed
his bewilderment as to why problems always arose particularly with
the Gagik Tsarukyan Foundation and why they don't act in accordance
with the prescribed order.
The minister stressed that the letters had been sent on party
letterhead in the case when PAP representatives have repeatedly stated
that the party and the foundation as two separate entities.
"Is it the letterheads that are an obstacle to assistance to needy
students? After all, this assistance is the display of goodwill,"
commented another PAP lawmaker Tigran Urikhanyan in response.
http://www.armenianow.com/society/education/50264/armenia_republicans_prosperous_armenia_party_schol arships_education