Teachers in Ashtarak Village Threaten to Boycott Work if School Is Not Renovated

The administration of Armenia’s Aragatsotn province has since 2004 been promising to renovate the severely damaged building of the Ashtarak village school. The teachers of the school have boycotted work multiple times in protest of the authorities’ disregard for the issue.

On September 14, the teachers issued a statement, in which they gave state officials 10 days to finally take some steps towards the fulfillment of their promises. Otherwise, the teachers threaten to start an open-ended strike.

In an interview with Epress.am, Armenian language teacher Tatev Sargsyan said the building, which “has been steadily falling apart over the years,” does not even have enough space to fit all the students. “When the school some 500 kilometers away from us was turned into a high school, all the lower grade students were transferred to our school. The buildings is designed for 200 students, but now we have over 600. During the breaks, the kids queue to get to the toilet. We don’t have the proper conditions to ensure the provision of a quality education.”

According to Sargsyan, the teachers have tried to appeal to Armenia’s education ministry, “but all our letters get redirected to the regional administration.”