Tuesday, March 26 2019 16:07

ArmInfo.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sees a huge potential for the development of science in the republic. The head of government stated this in his speech at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of the  Republic of Armenia, describing his vision of the development of  science, the main activities of the government in this area, as well  as presenting ways of cooperation between NAS and educational  institutions.

According to the Prime Minister, in the times of the Soviet Union,  Armenian science was strong because the state and society knew what  specific goals were set for the scientific field, and scientists, in  turn, knew what they could claim.

As Pashinyan said, the current amorphousness is due to the fact that  there is a misunderstanding about the expectations on both sides. "I  think that the search for answers to these questions will help  determine the basis on which the further development of science  should be based," he noted.

Speaking about the state's expectations from science, the head of the  government recalled the plans of the new Cabinet to turn the RA into  a technological country. In this context, he expressed the hope that  the full potential of science will be directed to the maintenance of  this idea. According to him, it is often said about the lack of  funding for the setor of science.

"In the course of our work in the government, I suggested completely  abandoning talks about underfunding, because when we start a  conversation from a money position, we very quickly come to a  standstill," Pashinyan said. At the same time, according to him, it  is necessary to concentrate not on the amount of funding, but on what  tasks the government is solving this.

As Nikol Pashinyan noted, today it is necessary to find answers to a  number of questions: namely, how much science is currently integrated  with education. Referring to the advanced experience of a number of  foreign educational institutions, the prime minister noted that it is  impossible to imagine the educational sector without a research,  scientific component. "Unfortunately, at this stage in Armenia,  higher education is separated from science, and our strategy will be  aimed at maximally integrating the research direction with the  educational system," he said.

The government's vision, as noted by Pashinyan, is to delegate a  number of scientific and educational functions to a system that will  allow science representatives to integrate more into the economy and  social life of the country. This will allow students to receive not  only theoretical knowledge, but also the possibility of their  application in practice.

The next, no less important task of the current Cabinet of Ministers  in the field of science and education, as the Prime Minister pointed  out, is to understand the degree of integration of the scientific and  educational system in shaping the strategic prospects of Armenia. "We  have set ourselves the task of strengthening the expert potential of  the republic, the scientific and educational system should be  involved in the process of forming strategies and policies of the  Republic of Armenia, which means the inflow of certain funds into the  science and education system," Pashinyan said.

In addition, as the prime minister believes, it is very important to  understand how science is integrated into the economy of the  republic, as well as into the development of the country's Armed  Forces.