Reforms in the higher education system as an innovation process. Walter Berberyan

The 21st century places new demands on all spheres of government, their branches, in particular, on the management system of higher education. The issues of implementing innovations in the field of higher education, the solution of problems are very important in order to increase the desired result of the university. To date, effective management is used in the education system. It is a special issue related to leadership. The third level of education, the high school, is really crucial in the education system, as it provides an opportunity to train qualified specialists in various fields of economics and science. According to the RA Law on Education, the purpose of higher professional education is the training and retraining of highly qualified personnel, the satisfaction of a person’s needs for the development of education on the basis of secondary general secondary education.

The RA higher education system is facing many problems. In our opinion, the most prominent of them are the state management of higher education autonomy of universities, access to education and ensuring equal access, quality assurance of education and control, funding management of mechanisms. Nowadays, the European three-level education system (it still operates in all universities) gives food for thought. Is being in a European education field beneficial and potential in terms of having qualified professionals, not only that?

It is not a secret that after the declaration of independence of the Republic of Armenia, many transformations were carried out, which referred to various spheres and spheres. The education system was not left out of them either. It should be noted that the educational system of the Republic of Armenia includes all levels of education, i.e. pre-school, secondary (full) general education, special general education, primary (vocational) and secondary professional education, higher and postgraduate professional education. The strategic goal of the current stage of the education system is to accept the modern challenges, to record the results of problem-solving, progress that will contribute to the increase of education, knowledge rating, strengthen the reputation of Armenia as a scientific-educational area.

We will now present some observations and considerations from the process of reforming the legislation on higher education and from the content.

Thus, a number of additions have been made to the draft law “On Higher Education and Science”, new concepts have been used in the draft, which are, in fact, new, as there is no word about them in the RA Law on Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education. The provision of the proposed project, according to which the transition to a one-tier scientific system is made, may be made. Let’s add that this system is accepted and applicable in the USA, which is considered to be the creative country of this horse. We think that today, when there are few people interested in science and education, the desire to continue this local process is decreasing, this will be a motivating phenomenon. There are very few young people who are really immersed in science and education. Their path should not be hindered, they should be valued and valued. Doctoral dissertations are usually defended quite late in our country (after the age of 50), and this will be an inspiring factor to reach the desired level of science at a young age.

The cooperation of the institutes of the National Academy of Sciences with the universities is also remarkable. It should be noted that today the universities are closely connected with the academy. There are many lecturers who work together in these two educational-scientific centers, students are often sent to internships at academy institutes, jointly organize national and international conferences, etc.

According to the RA Law on Higher Postgraduate Professional Education, the line of teaching the main educational programs of Higher Postgraduate Professional Education is: a. for obtaining a bachelor’s degree for at least 4 years, for police specialties for at least 3 years, b. for obtaining the degree of qualification of a diploma specialist – at least 5 years, for the specialties of art and physical culture – at least 4 years, c. for obtaining a master’s degree for at least 1 year, for medical specialties for up to 4 years, d. to obtain a researcher qualification degree of at least 3 years.

According to the proposed draft law:

A. The load of the first level qualification educational programs is not less than 180 and not more than 240 credits. The duration of study to obtain a bachelor’s degree is at least 3 years.
B. The load of second level qualification educational programs is not less than 60 and not more than 120 credits. The duration of study for obtaining a master’s degree is at least 1 year, c. The load of third-level scientific-educational programs is 180 credits, the duration of training for obtaining a doctor’s qualification is at least 3 years. With the proposed project, the threshold seems to have been lowered. This is a very important change. Will the courses be changed accordingly, as the reduction in time undoubtedly has an impact on the teaching of the course, the distribution of subjects, and so on?

According to the proposed project, the management board is formed in the following proportions:

A. 1 – from the student representatives, nominated by the Student Council of the University,
B. 4 – from the main academic staff of the university, who are nominated by the academic council of the university,
C. 1 – from the organizations cooperating with the university, the representative of which is nominated by the academic council of the university, based on the peculiarities of the university and sectoral orientation,
D. 6th – the head of the authorized body of the respective field from businessmen, representatives of education, science, culture or other spheres of economy. According to the current law, the University Board of Directors consists of at least 20 members. In the proposed draft law, the governing council will consist of only 12 members, 6 of whom will be appointed by the head of the authorized body in the relevant field, including businessmen, representatives of education, science, culture or other sectors of the economy. This gives me food for thought. Of course, there are different views and opinions. Many describe this and a number of other provisions as a violation of independence, autonomy, and many say that in any case there is a need for the relevant bodies to exercise control, because many illegalities have been committed in the university, perhaps due to various false elections, etc. Consequently, these and a number of other changes inspire confidence that we will have a strong university free from falsifications and injustices.

Interesting provisions have been made regarding the Rector, the executive body of the government. Thus, the citizen of the Republic of Armenia who has an academic degree can be elected to the position of the rector of the university (including the director of the branch):

A. Teaching and administrative work experience of at least 5 years or,
B. At least 5 years of work experience in scientific-administrative work or,
C. At least 5 years of work experience in the management of higher education or science system.

We have different universities, so we think it is expedient to enshrine the criteria proposed to the rector of the university in the university charter.

In our opinion, the field of education is more conservative, so we consider it a mistake to take urgent steps in this field, particularly in the field of higher education, and only time will tell how successful the whole project will be.

The article was written by Walter Berberyan, a third place winner in the second round of the “Article Contest” organized by the “Restart Gyumri” Initiative Center NGO