ArmInfo. Theologian Hovhannes Hovhannisyan appointed the acting rector of Yerevan State University. On August 5, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia Vahram Dumanyan introduced Hovhannes Hovhannisyan to the members of the Academic Board.
According to the head of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Board of Trustees of YSU will elect the rector. The Board itself has not yet been formed. According to Dumanyan, everything possible will be done for its early formation.
The fun fact is that the government's initiative, in the form of amendments to the RA law "On Higher Education and Science", including changes in the procedure for the formation of this body, was not crowned with success. President Armen Sarkissian did not sign it, sending it to the Constitutional Court, and then the Supreme Judicial Body itself recognized a number of provisions as unconstitutional. In particular, the requirement on the procedure for the formation of councils of state higher educational institutions was recognized as contradicting the requirements of the Basic Law of the country.
So, according to the draft law proposed by the government, the Board is formed in the following proportions: 4 representatives from the university community and 5 from the authorized body represented by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. At the same time, if representatives of the university community represent less than four members of the council or are not appointed within the established timeframes, the head of the relevant authorized body carries out the management of the state university. According to the Constitutional Court, if the law were signed by the president, the principle of autonomy of universities would be violated, since 5 out of 9 board members will be appointed by the government, which will deprive the university of the opportunity to make independent decisions.
Meanwhile, there has been no rector at YSU for about two years. The candidacy of Hovhannisyan, a former MP from the ruling My Step bloc and former deputy minister of education and science, has been exaggerated for a long time. However, the legislation required the rector to have a doctorate degree and the title of professor. By the decision of the government on July 29 this year, the country's authorities abandoned this "bar".