Theologian Hovhannes Hovhannisyan appointed acting rector of Yerevan  State University 

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".