This Process Will Be Maximally Transparent: Andreasian

The Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Zhanna Andreasian, clarified during parliamentary hearings on the topic of "Amendments to the Law on General Education, Their Advantages and Concerns" why school principals are now appointed rather than elected.

It is noteworthy that the parliamentary hearings were initiated by the Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sports of the National Assembly.

After Andreasian's speech, during the question-and-answer phase, one of the attendees remarked that we are transitioning from an electoral process for school principals to an appointed system, questioning whether this is a regression from democratic principles.

"You are asking how democratic it is to move from an election to an appointment. I will say that this is yet another occasion for all of us to think about what we mean when we say 'democracy.' If you believe that the process through which principals are currently elected in schools bears any relation to democracy, I must disagree with that," Andreasian said.

She emphasized that her disagreement is based on sufficient grounds, the elaboration and presentation of which would require considerable time, which she does not have the opportunity to do during the parliamentary hearings.

"But I want to assure you that this process that will be implemented will be maximally transparent. As a result, we want one thing: to have professional and dedicated individuals in their places who think about improving the quality of education," she stated.

According to the new amendments, both administrative and educational leaders in schools will be appointed by the ministry, considering the opinion of a professional committee, while the school's board will deal with the substantive issues related to the development of the educational institution.