On April 29 students of state institutions of higher education have organized a protest against reduction of places with the right of draft deferment. The Government has decided this year to cut 100 post graduate and 100 МА places with the right of draft deferment. 

This decision concerns especially boys since after completing undergraduate courses many of them will be drafted.

Daniel Ionnesyan, organizer of the protest and post graduate student of the Yerevan State University Physics Department thinks that reductions will not be limited by this and next year there will be more reductions.  

He says that in 2004 a similar protest of students showed that the youth could achieve their goals and that is why now they are resorting to other means:

"Changing the law is a more complicated process and it has to pass through National Assembly, so to make their job easier they reduced the places by a Government decision."

Speaking about the protest action with the same demands that was several days ago permitted by the municipality but did not take place, Daniel considered it a local victory:

"Most of the organizers of the previous protest were students of Physics Department liable to reduction and when they met Minister of Science and Education Armen Ashotyan's proposal half-way - to keep the Physics Department places in return for abstaining from the protest, this fact can be considered a positive victory."

According to protesting students, there are departments that have 0 places with the right of draft deferment - psychology and sociology; there also are departments with only one place - biology, chemistry etc.

Participant of the protest action, 4^th year student Sos Avetisyan from the Romance and Germanic Languages Department after graduation can be drafted if the number of places with the right of draft deferment is not increased at the department. He is convinced that especially after learning a language for 4 years everything will be lost "during a two-year service in the closed system of the army." Like other participants of the protest he complains that the Students' Council of the University is not next to them. 

"I don't understand how the Students' Council can not defend students' interests," he says. "What does this mean - that the party has decided and we all young communists obey it? Is this our dream? They say that after reductions only the most worthy students will continue their studies but I doubt they would be the worthy ones." 

Tsolak Hakobyan, Chairman of the Yerevan State University Students' Council, said that the Council was trying to help every single student and it was insulting for them that protest organizers did not inform them about the demonstration beforehand: "Only the previous evening they called and informed that the next morning the Chairman of the Students' Council would have to make a speech in the morning." 

According to Tsolak Hakobyan, there is a political force behind the participants of the action (he means youth wing of "Heritage" faction).  

"The Students' Council has not been founded to follow some political force, it is called to defend students' interests," he said. "If we see that most of the students do not protest, only those who have a problem with draft, let them come, we can talk and try to find a way out." 

Hakobyan says that they have several times presented their protest to the rector and pro-rectors of the University that they had without them distributed post-graduate and MA places and presented the list to the Government.

He says that "they are not against what they did, but they protest for not being involved in the distribution".

Davit Sanasaryan, member of "Hayk" Young Students' Council, says that partisan students too have a right to participate in such actions.

"Being a member of "Heritage" party, I don't think there are so many students to politicize the demonstration."

Touching upon many students' complaint that they have been warned by the rector's office that if they took part in the demonstration they could have problems with state exams, Aram Simonyan,              rector of Yerevan State University denied the information while speaking to reporters.

"Do you think I am so primitive as to run after students and persuade them not to participate in the demonstration? University created no obstacles but the administration is against it since it is not a method to solve problems. They are not concerned with those problems more than me."

The rector said that the distribution of places with the right of draft deferment was made taking into account the supreme interest of the state.

"Do you think that a good scientist is the result of big numbers? It is a question of quality. I can say with confidence that not every post graduate that defends a thesis becomes a scientist. Science is an elite occupation; let scientists be few but of high quality," the rector clarifies. "Who says that, say, opera singers or scientists have to be in mass numbers? They are few."

Simonyan said that though there was also some subjective approach but they met students of Physics Department half-way and did not reduce their places since two of the protesting students were winners of International Olympiads and "it would be unfair if they did not study." 

Simonyan says that he cannot do anything about the army: the Government has decided, he has to obey. 

Regarding the issue Stepan Safaryan, leader of "Heritage" faction, has sent a letter to rector Aram Simonyan today. The letter reads, in particular:

"Heritage" will continue defending students' rights and expects that the Ministry of Science and Education will present public explanations on this issue since many media outlets have voiced their concerns."

The students' protest finished with a march - Alek Manukyan-Sayat Nova-Hanrapetutyan Street and Republic Square, to the Government building.

Christine Vardanyan

P.S. Council of Rectors of Armenian State Institutions of Higher Education intends to raise the question of reducing post graduate and MA places before the President and organize a discussion.