To Pay or Not to Pay – that is the question, the dilemma and the easiest way to receive a degree
March 7, 2006
I’ve been meaning to write a post about this for a while and recently these young Armenians have been writing their own posts and expressing themselves on ArmYouth Blog (as you can see, they have also chosen some serious topics and touched upon quite important issues).
Thus, I have decided to take a moment to reflect upon this issue of youth involvement in Armenia’s democratization processes. Frankly, my research as a Fulbright scholar is regarding this topic so this is something that I am particularly familiar with and have been studying for several months. Of course there are many factors which influence some young Armenians to become involved in different types of activities and events. Whether it is protests, working with NGOs, becoming a member of a political party or becoming involved in youth organizations- I propose that the university education system plays a significant role in youth’s involvement in the democratization process occurring in Armenia.
How? For one thing, there is much reform and change which needs to take place in Armenia’s university system. Within this article, I will not delve into the history of the university education system even though it is an important factor to consider in order to understand the current situation. However, I would like to discuss some of the current major problems within the universities which are proving to be an obstacle and discouraging the youth. And with that said, I would also like to point out that there are of course cases in which certain universities or departments are exceptions and not necessarily part of this problem. Yet through my field work, many of the university students I have spoken to have confirmed and explained such stories.As corruption has proven to be a problem within the government institutions, the same applies within the university system. Students are able to pay their way to become successful. Whether it is paying for a 5 on an exam or for acceptance into a university, students take advantage of their parents’ money and contacts in order to become successful. Recently Zarchka had pointed this out in her post, “Wanna education?… Money Talks!”
“The thing is that the so called professors, or rather «profbribers», still torture him, not grading and flunking…«You know , but in the same time you don’t know»: this is their usual eulogy to the matter. After this a slight gesture with fingers is followed, you all know that, when they want money in sordo language in case if the student has a recorder with him…
I’ve forgotten.. He receives 5000 drams scholarship for being such a good student and studying at free system. So, what we have? The money meant to be a stimulating factor for the student to study more, can also be used as a bribe. Just great! What a nice merry-go-round educational system we have! Government pays for the scholarship, professors take it, and who knows , may be in their turn they pay taxes to the university.
And as a result the students have artificial minds and artificial diplomas.
That is why nowadays we have so much dump doctors, who’d better grow plants ( it’d be of more use) and engineers who now lead so much con-de-structions in our progressing city ( I’ll not wonder if in some 10 years the buildings at Northern Avenue will just fall into ruins) and ecologists who decide in place of what tree the café table would fit more ( and also in some 10 years when you go to that cafe don’t forget to order a cup of oxygen.”
Lilit also pointed this out within her article on ArmYouth entitled, The Important thing is not the Diplom, but the mind , originally written in Armenian. In her words, translated, she says:
“I am persuaded that there are many intelligent young people, who do not have the financial means to be accepted into university or their desired major to study, which is not of their own will and does not correspond to their preference. And it so happens that, in addition, the people who are choosing these important majors are those who have no ability to understand the importance of the Diplom they are receiving in their hands. These people who become “specialists” are getting jobs and it is becoming evidence that they do not know their responsibilities. This is the reason why in Armenia there are no real higher educated and quality doctors, lawyers, psychologists…”
Interestingly, she then explains
“What is the difference if I go to the doctor, or not? It is the same and there will be no difference if they have had such consultations, during which they have supposedly been able to diagnose the reason for one’s sickness, prescribe medicine, and afterwards they are still the same and feel no changes.”
This all becomes a cyclical problem. The students know that the one of the easiest ways they can receive the high grades or a Diplom in a prestigious career, is by paying the money and also having the contacts. Thus, they continue these practices because some see this as the only choice they have in order to become successful themselves. For example, just the other day a friend was explaining that he had no desire to write a report that was due for a certain class and that he would rather pay instead of writing that report. I, of course, questioned such a decision and he responded that he had no desire to do the work nor was he interested really in this major overall. To be honest, he said, he would rather spend his time and focus on having a career in the arts rather than in international relations. Why had he chosen this major if he was not interested in it after all?
And the vicious cycle continues…
Again, as I mentioned above in regards to the bribery issue among professors, this is not the situation in all cases. I would also like to quote Zarchka as she says in a comment to the post quoted above.
“there are really honest professors who will never grade, even if you put the knife on their throats, unless the students answer. I have the fortune to be the student of some of such professors, who will never grade the student if he happen to offer a bribe. They will rather flunk him on that. Note, the problem of corruption mainly exists in State Universities and not in private ones. It’s funny, but one of my professors who is a famous bribe-taker in the Pedagogic University, never takes bribe from the students in my university.”
Fortunately, there are those professors who are fighting back– especially the younger ones and as Zarchka points out, the professors at private universities – who are seeking to combat this issue by not accepting such bribes. I am also familiar with such instances in which for example the professor will refuse to take the bribe and would rather give the student the grade he or she wants without accepting any money for it. [ In the end, is the student not learning for herself or himself? When I was studying in college in the U.S., professors would tell me at the beginning of each course – if you read, then you will be reading for your own knowledge. If you study and spend time learning, you will be doing it for the sake of your own education. ]
Besides this issue of bribery and corruption in the universities, there are other factors within the university education system which also provide obstacles to students’ motivation to learn and become involved. I will continue to touch upon these issues in future posts and hope it is of interest. Such factors also include the lack of social clubs and activities at the university level, the lack of academic freedom and the political association of the university administration, faculty and staff.
When speaking to my professor back in the U.S. about this topic, she was not surprised of such phenomenon occurring in Armenia. I inquired what actions must be taken in order to combat this and she responded that in the end time will bring about the change. Her comparison was interesting, she compared this problem with corruption in the university with a banana. As time goes by, those professors who continue these practices will begin to slowly peel away and out of the system. This takes time of course and once this occurs, then it is among the younger generation of professors who will no longer become tolerant of such practices. Yet on the other hand, this younger generation of professors currently working side-by-side with the older generation who continue these actions – how can they not be tempted to participate in such activities as well? To continue this analogy with fruits, if there is a bad apple among a bunch of good apples – will the bad apple not begin to have an effect on the good apples?
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1.
Alex | March 8, 2006 at 2:52 am
Before I write anything, I should say that I am an American, and my knowledge of social issues in Armenia is negligible. So if any of my assumptions are incorrect, I apologize. It seems to me that the comparison of bribe-taking professors to “bad apples” is better than the analogy to a banana. Time may peel away the rotten layers of the banana (in this case, the corrupt professors). But corruption to that degree does not disappear without action. Younger professors, it would seem, would be very likely to consider bribery an acceptable custom. Without a determined program to root out corrupt professors, what is to stop new professors from assuming the bribery is standard operating procedure? As mentioned in the post, it is simply a vicious circle.
Armenian students could be agents for change, but as the post mentions, many see bribery as the only solution. Many similar things happen here in the US. Students steal essays from the internet, cheat on tests, or take drugs that help them study, since they see these actions as the only way to succeed. I believe that time cannot heal these wounds. A concerted effort must be made by professors and students, both in Armenia and in the US, to fix these problems. Honest professors and students must prove to the others that bribery in education is not acceptable. And doctors, ecologists, and engineers that bribed their way through school should be shamed into obtaining the knowledge their degree says they have. It is a tough task, but it can be done. I wish Armenians the best of luck.
2.
Zarchka | March 9, 2006 at 4:37 pm
On my consideration the only problem is still in the mentally and the false assumption that everyone should have education. But here, saying “education” we do not mean the knowledge, but the sheet of paper called “Diploma” which plays a decisive roll in student’s future enrollment in this or that kind or job. And as a matter of fact students do not care for the profession they gain at the University, because their lifeline is already predicted by some authorized people who have saved work for him or her and just the diploma is needed.
In other cases as I said before, diploma is the necessary element of the dowry which is so common in Armenian. For emphasizing this I can say that nearly all my course mates need it for the same reason. They don’t care for learning and are so obliged when the professors grade them 3 for knowing 2 or 3 topics out of say 60. And they also buy course papers from the best providers, but yet they receive the same 3. On the contrary I always liked writing course papers, especially when they are assigned from literature, and that’s the most perfect way to enrich my horizon…yet… they prefer just buying it to sparing their “precious time” which is later wasted on sitting in some café and watching people over the nonsense chatting.
I was just shocked when a friend said that his professor assigns writing a course paper, then lets the students know that he also writes such papers, but sells not for 8000 drams, as is the average price, but for 16000. But later he never grades 5, but 3, in better cases-4. It’s so outrageous! Whether he doesn’t appreciate his knowledge, or … I don’t know…
What concerns banana theory. Banana never peels by itself, someone is needed to peel it. And that must be the student. And if you put two apples of different sort together and add another putrefied one, it will spoil the one closer to its own sort.
3.
Oneworld Multimedia :: No&hellip | March 12, 2006 at 3:14 pm
[...] Of course, while Life Skills classes included as part of the National Curriculum in Armenia do now deal with STIs and HIV/AIDS, there are of course problems with the educational system in the country. Armyouth covers this problem — at its most severe in Yerevan’s Universities — and quotes extensively from young local bloggers. When speaking to my professor back in the U.S. about this topic, she was not surprised of such phenomenon occurring in Armenia. I inquired what actions must be taken in order to combat this and she responded that in the end time will bring about the change. Her comparison was interesting, she compared this problem with corruption in the university with a banana. As time goes by, those professors who continue these practices will begin to slowly peel away and out of the system. This takes time of course and once this occurs, then it is among the younger generation of professors who will no longer become tolerant of such practices. Yet on the other hand, this younger generation of professors currently working side-by-side with the older generation who continue these actions – how can they not be tempted to participate in such activities as well? To continue this analogy with fruits, if there is a bad apple among a bunch of good apples – will the bad apple not begin to have an effect on the good apples? [...]