YEREVAN. – Armenia’s capital city Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan addressed a congratulatory message to Armenian students on the occasion of the International Students’ Day. 

“Students have always been the direct participants in and main driving force of social and political change. The role of the students is expressed by an active civic stance and an ability to respond to challenges. We have but one objective: to build, develop, and strengthen our country. And I am convinced that the students are that very potential which will strengthen the foundations for the future. Rest assured that Yerevan Municipality will always stand with our students,” Taron Margaryan’s message states in particular.       

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, numerous countries, including Armenia, celebrate International Students’ Day on Saturday, November 17, 2012.

In line with the National Statistical Service data, there were 95,000 students in Armenia in 2011 and 50,500 of them were girls. At the same time, 62,600 of these students study at daytime institutions of higher education and the rest take correspondence courses.  

To note, however, everything started out from a tragic event. The date commemorates the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi storming of the University of Prague after demonstrations against the killing of a student and a worker as well as against the occupation of Czechoslovakia, and the execution of nine student leaders, over 1,200 students sent to concentration camps, and the closure of all Czech universities and colleges.

The 17th of November was first marked as International Students’ Day in 1941 in London by the International Students’ Council, and in observance of the aforementioned tragic events.