YEREVAN, JULY 30, ARMENPRESS: The Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia Armen Ashotyan is satisfied with the admission process of 2015. Armenpress presents the interview with Ashotyan on the admission 2015 and other issues.

Admission examinations – an exclusively educational process

The admission of this year continued the series of the achievements of the previous years and passed as an exclusively educational, well-organized, substantial process, nearly perfect from the administrative point of view and with satisfactory results. It was very important for us to create an opportunity for our children to explore their knowledge, reduce subjectivity, corruption risks and attract the public attention to the process as another positive step, implemented in the framework of the educational reforms, the result of which is stable.

Worthy children were admitted

This year we had greater interuniversity competition. And this is also one of the results of the reforms. Students, applicants and their parents are making more conscious choices. This will force the universities to work on the quality of their educational programs.

The Priorities and applicants, who got positive marks

In the framework of the state order, our priorities were art, culture, regional universities, agriculture, Armenian studies, exact sciences and information technologies. This year we expanded the experience we started last year, when for some specialties we admit also by the results of the school certificates to facilitate and encourage. This innovation also gave its results.

Competition for some specialties

Certainly, there was a great competition also for some specialties in the fields of law, international relations, economic sector and the Medical University as well. We distributed the surplus reserve places, taking into account the priorities to facilitate also the social issues.

Number of applicants and places discussed

I will repeat that we deliberately give more places than the number of applicants is, as this psychological trick worked several years ago, when it was realized by my offer and the parents saw that if their child gets a positive mark, he or she will be admitted for sure. To reduce the number of places does not mean to hit only the universities but also means creating artificial tension, fostering the corruption risks. 

The importance of fighting for applicants

It is necessary to fight for the applicants. The educational services are also a market and it is natural that the parents and applicants try to get the best service. The institutions of higher education should work on the improvement of their quality and interrelate with the society in the right way, implement marketing policy, modernize the material base, fight against corruption and rejuvenate the teaching staff.

The entrance to the university should be easy and the graduation – difficult

We provide with a free access. In fact the entrance to the university should be maximally facilitated. The important thing is to have a difficult exit. Our formula was to facilitate the admission and impede the graduation. We did the first half of the work – we have facilitated the admission. Now it is very important to manage the final exam stage. I do not see any problem here. I think many universities are on the right way due to internationalization and accreditation.

Prepared by Roza Grigoryan

Photos by Eduard Sepetchyan