Let’s think for the sake of existence of education
Throughout recent years Armenia’s society has become more demanding towards education. Many of the organizations expressed a view that current issues should be solved via education. The PM stated if we don’t have good educational system, we can’t have a good country. Although the reverse of the coin exists as well. If we don’t have a good country, we’ll never have a good educational system.
In any case after around 20 years of reforms the current situation in education doesn’t satisfy many.
The biggest issue is that it isn’t clear which direction Armenia’s educational system has chosen. During the period of reforms we borrowed experience of various countries, however, we didn’t formulate our own approach.
One of the leading specialists in education—Finnish Pasi Sahlberg, advises to never simulate the experience of successful countries, as any country should find its own formula for success. The Finnish specialist truly notes that education is like a tree, feeding roots of which are that country’s cultural peculiarities. What you import will have a value of a leaf if you aren’t able to harmonize it with your culture.
Throughout these years an attempt was made to formulate our own approach in Armenia. However, the initiative failed, as some considered the vision manifestation of neo-bolshevism, others have disagreements regarding strategic directions.
Generally, strategic documents are rather hardly accepted.
For instance the Law on Education demands to adopt state program on education development every 5 years. The first program was for 2001-2005. The second program was adopted in 2011 only, i.e. the system remained with no development for 6 years. In 2015 the second term of the program ended and up to date we have no new program.
The reason for such failures was that we feel more skillful by soviet inertia in solving issues, than in strategic issues, we have no standing group of thinkers, researchers in the system of education. All crucial documents of Armenia’s education— State Program on Development of Education, State Standard of Public Education, which have been developed for 3-6 month term through acting groups. A group of people gathers, develops a program and returns to the daily work.
By such seasonal workmode it’s impossible to record serious success in the field of education.
Instead, look what the Finnish did. Decades ago the Committee for the Future was developed in Finnish parliament, which functions until modern days. That Committee is responsible for country’s strategic development and doesn’t allow the government to sacrifice country’s long-term development to the solution of short-term issues, that Committee has a big role in educational success as well.
There is lack of preparation work in Armenia’s educational field. We constantly make changes in the system of education, very often rather impulsively, without calculating the implications. In a moth or 15 days it’s impossible to develop serious document in the field of education, especially, when we have no organizations dealing with strategic issues.
Abraham Lincoln said, “If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend 6 of those hours sharpening my axe.” We all waste time in chopping the tree by a blunt axe. We seem to work, but we see no changes.
As a result, currently we have segmental, non-systemized changes in the system of education, which often lead to undesired results, e.g. years ago the democratic system of choosing directors through election was invested in Armenia. Its sense was that directors were elected by the council comprising parents, teachers, reps from different circles of management.
However, as a result of this democratic reform, as PM Karen Karapetyan characterized, we had manifestations of feudalism in education management. If formerly the system of hereditary management was spread in kindergartens, today it’s widely used in the school system.
In future new strategic documents referring to education will be adopted. There is also certain pressure on educational system by the civil society, as well as small groups of parents, e.g. recently in an interview a parent set an issue before education managers. The parent asked: what does the ministry consider of providing proper education to our children?
The time of implementing real changes in Armenia has come. Until now our implemented changes were addition. We constantly added a new burden on schools. Teaching new subjects, filing in numerous registers and reports, extending educational year and etc. Unfortunately, these changes didn’t lead to transformations. The more we changed, the more everything remained unchanged.
Currently we’re proud of pupils winning medals at olympiads or contestations. It doesn’t speak of anything good. Developed countries of the world today are proud or improvement of indices of pupils with poor results.
Under current state of affairs, the first step is the culture of developing strategic planning abilities, mentality. We always underestimate the role of thinking.
As Bernard Show said, “Two percent of the people think; three percent of the people think they think; and ninety-five percent of the people would rather die but not think.” Speaking and acting without thinking deep, without serious preparation of intervention, may even damage more, than doing nothing. Instead of constant changes it’s important to understand what we need.
It’s important to create dialogue platforms and reach social accord. If the government fails to implement the function of consolidation, then the system of education will subdue capitulation, as it won’t be able to compete with market industries diverting children from education, catching attention of children.
By Serob Khachatryan
