Universities “disappear” in Armenia

Armenian universities are begging for “wise policy”, warning that the future of the nation in heading for the abyss.

Armenian colleges and universities are seeing drops in applications from students amid pervasive concerns that the political and economic climate might keep more students away.

Moreover, many of university students fail to complete their education for various reasons, including lack of funds. All this negatively affects the level of education of the Armenian people, while many universities get closed.

Armenian sociologist Aharon Adibekyan said that 25 universities were closed over the past ten years in the country, and the figure dropped to 60.

He also noted the decline in the number of people, who want to enroll at state and private universities of Armenia. “The number of students dropped from 110,000 to 85,000. This is not only connected with fertility – this is a much more serious problem,” the expert told media on August 8.

The obvious reason for such a small number of students is the constant exodus of Armenians from the country. Many Armenians cannot stand all the hard condition in the country; therefore they leave abroad to live and study there.

The official data shows that this year, the universities of Armenia received 8,266 entrants, while this figure was 17,649 last year. Thus, the number of entrants to the country’s universities fell by more than twice compared to 2016.

The sociologist also noted that only 12,700 of almost 18,000 people who enrolled at universities in 2016, finished the first academic year.

Now there are thousands of vacant places in many faculties of the Armenian universities due to the rapid decrease in the number of entrants.

In addition, Armenians do not want to study physics, chemistry, biophysics, theology, Russian language, intercultural communication, economics, international relations, international law and many other spheres.

Another interesting fact is that the vacant places are for the paid system of education. That means Armenians don’t have enough money to send their children to study at university. Instead of receiving education, Armenians prefer to work for bread, while the level of illiteracy increases among the Armenian population.

Such a negative trend in the education sphere of Armenia promises much more serious problems for the country.