Parents Address Open Letter to Araik Harutyunyan

Parents of applicants to the Artashes Shahinyan specialized physics-mathematics school are addressing an open letter to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of Armenia, Araik Harutyunyan. Below is the letter:

“ACCOUNTABILITY OR DISCRIMINATION

Dear Mr. Harutyunyan,

Today, June 22, the first phase of admission exams for the 8th grade was held at the Artashes Shahinyan specialized physics-mathematics school (Physics-Mathematics school) affiliated with Yerevan State University. An error occurred in question 16, which was only rectified 10 minutes before the end of the exam. Many students were unable to adjust in time, resulting in the loss of one point each.

After announcing the exam results, it became clear that students from the second variant had an additional point added to their scores, whereas students from the first variant did not receive this point. Was this done intentionally to prevent children from entering the school? As you know, the classrooms in the Physics-Mathematics school are overcrowded, which may be due to the fact that a significant portion of the school's real estate is being used by the non-governmental educational institution 'Usum,' which is a paid school headed by the wife of the physics-mathematics school director, Haikaz Navasardyan—Susanna Tamaryan.

Incidentally, the same situation occurred during the 7th grade entrance exam yesterday.

We ask for justice to be restored regarding admissions to the Physics-Mathematics school and to provide an opportunity for intelligent students proficient in physics and mathematics to learn at the Physics-Mathematics school.

Respectfully, Parents of applicants to the physics-mathematics school.”