ArmInfo. Vardan Urutyan was appointed as Rector of the Agrarian University of Armenia. The decision was made at the February 6 meeting of the RA government.
Presenting the draft decision, RA Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan stressed that a meeting of the university council was held on December 25 last year, at which Vardan Urutyan was elected the head of the Agrarian University of Armenia by majority vote.
The Minister stressed that the main task of the government in the field of higher education is to depoliticize universities, increase their independence and ensure academic freedom. To this end, new university councils are being created, the process of which will be completed in the very near future. The most important thing, as the minister noted, is that people who have the trust and authority come to the leadership of universities, which later will have an impact on the quality of education.
In turn, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted that the issue of depoliticizing universities is a course for the government of the country. "Today, there are often accusations that nothing has changed in the higher education system, but we must fix that in this matter the executive will not interfere in the affairs of higher educational institutions from now on. For this reason we leave the Council of universities, and to consider this process as inertia on the part of the state, "the head of government stated. Pashinyan stressed that earlier representatives of the government were included in the Councils of universities in order to keep under control the processes taking place in the higher educational institutions of the country. The Prime Minister urged the relevant structures to carry out the necessary work to legislatively regulate this issue. He also noted the importance of a constructive dialogue with teachers and students of universities on the formation of a new format of relations. "Our goal is serious structural changes in the education system," stated Nikol Pashinyan, also calling on the new head of the Agrarian University to pay more attention to scientific and research work, to form a link with production. In this way, the government can assist in the form of financing a number of programs aimed at developing agriculture.
Meanwhile, the new Rector of the Agrarian University, Vardan Urutyan, pointed out the importance of optimizing the three research centers of the university and establishing a link between the university and other scientific institutions of the republic.
He, in particular, pointed out the need to create an agrarian-technological center on the basis of the university, which will contribute to the progress of agricultural production. "Now the university is in the process of evaluating these and other opportunities," Vardan Urutyan said.