Yezidi School, Alagyaz
Alagyaz, Aragatsotn Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
As I said in my last post, I wrote an article on minority education for UNICEF last year, and although the situation in Alagyaz isn’t so bad in so much as a new school is under construction. Unfortunately, it’s been under construction for many years now and pupils are still studying in a run-down building which is pretty much the same in many villages here.
And while adverse socio-economic conditions faced by rural settlements, as well as the poor upkeep of village schools, are detrimental to education, the main problem is cultural. This is especially true for females. “There are those who even consider education dangerous for a girl,” says the report. “They reason that an educated woman may have ideas and not be as obedient to men.”
However, despite these obstacles, there are children in minority communities that would like to enter higher education. In the Yezidi village of Zovuni, for example, one girl cries as she tells of her inability to study French when she finishes school. Another Yezidi girl says that if given the opportunity, she would like to study, and later teach, Armenian language and literature.
There’s a problem with textbooks, of course, but there’ll soon be a pre-school class as part of reform of the education system in Armenia. However, there’s still no kindergarten and my understanding is that most Yezidi would welcome the construction of one given that what they did have was apparently destroyed in the 1988 Earthquake.
“When children aren’t in possession of the basics for entering school, it is more difficult for them to adjust to this new environment and they are less communicative with their teachers and peers,” she says. “They have already been deprived of the opportunity to open their minds to explore, compare and learn. That is one reason why there are only two to five good pupils on average in every class in schools in Armenia and why many children are unable to fully grasp the curriculum presented.”
Hasmik will have an article on the school in Alagyaz published by Hetq Online in the near future.
Alagyaz, Aragatsotn Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
Hi Onnik,
I just have a question - are schools (classrooms) in the REGIONS typically like the one in the first picture, or is it that Yezidi schools are poorly equipped (in all senses of the word)?
Comment by Anarchistian — May 11, 2006 @ 4:04 pm
Actually, many schools in Yerevan are poorly equipped, but yes, the problem with schools is common throughout the regions. However, drop-out rates in [Armenian ] refugee and national minority communities is higher than the national average. In part this is because of the culture of some minorities — for example, the situation with Assyrians is not so bad as Yezidi and Molokans for this reason — but also very definitely another reason is economic. According to a recent study another problem is the lack of pre-school education and kindergartens in minority villages.
This generally means that minority kids don’t have a grasp of Armenian and take longer to get up to speed. Guess that doesn’t really relate to your question though, so yes, the condition of schools in the regions is pretty bad — including armenians — but other factors can make the situation worse for minorities. Actually, I’d like to see attention almost totally switch to the suburbs of Yerevan AND the regions. We’ve had enough development — perhaps over-development — in central Yerevan and now people should be looking elsewhere.
Tax incentives for investing outside of central Yerevan, for example. Anyway, I wrote an article on minority education in Armenia for UNICEF. It’s here.
Comment by Onnik — May 11, 2006 @ 7:48 pm