Epress.am News from Armenia
The introduction of new compulsory curriculum subjects should be approached very carefully; each and every decision has to be based on the compatibility of the most effective possible use of students' limited time and the already established objectives of public education. Unfortunately, this compatibility does not exist in Armenia, sociologist Zhanna Andreasyan said in conversation with Epress.am, commenting on the decision of Armenia's Ministry of Education to introduce a trial “National Songs and Dances” subject in a number of the country's basic schools.
“We have a child who needs to learn, to play and to love life, and then we have a group of people whose only ambition is to take away some more of what little time this child has and to stuff his head with more nonsense. Our conception of school is not based on the idea that the child has to love school; it's based on the belief that attending school is one's duty. And with time, duty develops into a compulsion,” Andreasyan said.
The “National Songs and Dances” subject was introduced in the lower grades of several basic schools back in 2014, and now Armenia's Education Ministry wants to expand the pilot program and make the subject mandatory for 7th graders. The sociologist, however, believes that the implementation of specific subjects is fraught with a number of problems and risks. The most basic of examples of this would be the lack of public demand or scientific validity, the lack of qualified and competent teachers, and the unavailability of relevant textbooks and educational materials.
According to Andreasyan, it is also important to understand whether Armenian families are currently ready for such innovations. “For example, after the introduction of Chess classes, it turned out that in many families there was no one who knew how to play chess, so children from such families did not have an opportunity to practice the already hard-to-grasp subject at home. In Armenia, where schools are gradually turning into task assignment centers, this is quite a significant issue.”
At the same time, the expert stresses that the current issue is not directly related to dance classes since learning or teaching kids how to dance is not an inadmissible idea in itself. “Dancing is an art form, and a general acquaintance with the art of dancing at an early age is essential for the development of children's imagination, their independent and critical thinking. What we do have a problem with, however, are the objectives of this initiative, i.e. – 'to help ensure children's proper Armenian upbringing, to nurture their national identity, self-awareness, and, finally, to bring up a real Armenian citizen' (as written in the Government's corresponding decision on introducing the 'National Songs and Dances' subject' – Epress.am).”
Andreasyan believes that the Government's formulations are essentially conflicting since anyone who has a desire to can become a citizen of Armenia, provided that he or she meets the necessary legal requirements for receiving a citizenship. “Teaching kids 'national songs and dances,' on the other hand, is aimed at bringing up a 'real' Armenian citizen. The program therefore only envisages Armenians as citizens of Armenia, which is a basic discrimination against all the foreign nationals in our society.”
“The teaching of hunting and war dances is a direct and logical step toward the state initiative for the military-patriotic education of the children. So the problem here is not the introduction of the dances, but the purpose of the educational policy. It should be noted that a number of other subjects, including 'Motherland Studies,' 'History of Armenia,' and 'History of the Armenian Church,' are also serving to the achievement of this goal,” Andreasyan noted. She added that, for various reasons, the participation of the true carriers of educational policies in the development, discussion and implementation of decisions is extremely low.
“The educational process is not the same for the entire sphere of education. Take, for example, the subject of the 'History of Armenian Church.' This subject, which is mandatorily taught for 7 years in most public schools, is not compulsory in so-called privileged schools. Thus, if one wants to save their child from the consequences of inappropriate education-related decisions, one has to pay for it, which creates a real disparity in terms of the educational content available to different members of the same age group. As a result, parents who are able to pay for these 'privileged' schools choose to not send their kids to public schools, which is a dangerous trend since the education provided in public schools gradually turns into an 'education for the poor',” the sociologist stated.