Professional Journalists for Human Rights

From May 1 to June 30, 2010 Civil Society Institute with financial support of Counterpart International Armenia organized a three-day seminar "Professional Journalists for Human Rights".  The seminar was led by lawyer Siranoush Sahakyan, journalist Liana Sayadyan, human rights defender Artak Kirakosyan and CSI president Arman Danielyan.  As a result of the training, the best articles prepared by the participants were published in a special insert in Hetq newspaper.

www.hra.am editorial publishes a series prepared by the participants of the training "Professional Journalists for Human Rights".  The selected articles are still actual.

www.hra.am editorial

Youth With Hearing Disabilities Have No Opportunities For Higher Education

The doors of the higher education institutions in Armenia are closed for a significant group of secondary school graduates - the youth with disabilities, especially those with hearing problems.  In contrast to students having disabilities of body or eyes, the students with hearing disorder do not receive higher education in Armenia.  

Legally, persons with the first and second degree of disability have the privilege to enter the higher school on non-pay basis if they collect the necessary scores for the paid education.  However, as the head of the department of coordination and supervision over the higher education institutions Sasoun Mikaelyan confirms, the youth with listening disabilities in current years almost do not apply for higher education. "People with listening disability entering the higher school will have a problem to listen to the lecturers. Now we are joining the Bologna system, which supposes that every lecturer should present the print version of his lecture, which can be downloaded from Internet. This will ease the problems of the students who cannot hear."

Nevertheless, to use the opportunity to read the lectures, persons with hearing disorders should be able to enter the higher school.  Here are the main obstacles.

Artashes Hovhannisyan, 25-year-old, is one of the rear young people with hearing problems, who obtained higher education.  He lost his hearing in childhood, but thanks to his mother, a teacher, who paid special attention to her son, he attended the general school, and then finished the Yerevan architectural university, department of computer programming in 2009.  Artashes does not know the language of gestures.  For Artashes it was not difficult to pass the exams for the higher education, but it is a problem for children who have attended a special school for disabled.   

The only in Armenia special school for children with hearing disabilities had just one graduate this year. The director of the school Ashot Avetisyan has been heading it since 1997.  According to him, during last 10-15 years, no graduate of the school entered the higher educational institution.  The school used to be a primary school, but now it also has high education classes., still without any graduate entering the higher school. "Students with hearing disabilities do not have the possibility to pass the unified exams because they are not provided with necessary conditions, such as translation.  These people need a translator during the exams to understand its requirements, but the rules exclude presence of any specialists at the exams, and for people with hearing disorders translators are regarded as specialists", tells the director. Ashot Avetisyan added that people understand each other mainly through listening, and even if the person can read he will not fully understand the requirements without translation. People with hearing disability have lack of information, which causes suspiciousness and fear to enter a non-familiar environment.  "According to the established conditions, the student with hearing disability should go to some other school to keep the unified exams, but he refuses to go because of fear."

To solve the occupational problem for the special school graduates, the school since 2004 has organized handicrafts training for its high class students.  They learn rug-making, hair-styling, shoe-making, preparing stuff for the weeding ceremonies, dress-making and computer skills.

Anahit Minasyan