Arayik Harutyunyan Responds to MP Ani Samsonyan's Criticism

The Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Arayik Harutyunyan, has responded to the criticism made by MP Ani Samsonyan from the ‘Bright Armenia’ faction concerning the education sector.

In a post on his Facebook page, Arayik Harutyunyan wrote: “It turned out to be uncomfortable, Ms. Samsonyan. Today, my former colleague Ani Samsonyan announced from the podium of the National Assembly that the MoESCS has set a record for complaints, after the police and the judicial system. Indeed, the previous year’s report by the Human Rights Defender states that the office received 981 complaints regarding the police, 800 complaints regarding the judicial system, and 730 complaints from the education, science, culture, sports, and youth sectors.

A while ago, I asked the Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan to provide me with the breakdown of the complaints. According to the report, out of 730 applications, 74 were verbal, and 656 were written. Most importantly, out of 656 complaints, 557 were related to one issue—the issue of Avshar School, where parents, disagreeing with the appointment of a new director, each submitted one complaint regarding the same issue to draw more attention to it.

As for the allegation of filling school councils with party members, I have no information that any member of the ‘Civil Contract’ has become a director during my tenure. There may be one or two, but not because they are affiliated with a party; meanwhile, during my tenure, there have been hundreds of competitions.”