YEREVAN. – Why applicants with disabilities in Armenia do not participate in the university entrance examinations?
The aforesaid query by a reporter took by surprise Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan, who on Friday arrived in the examination center that was opened at Yerevan State University, and before the start of the exams on Armenian Language and Literature.  

Ashotyan spoke to Gagik Melikyan, Director of the Assessment and Testing Center, asking whether there really are no such applicants. Even though Melikyan responded that there are no such applicants at present, the minister insisted: “It’s impossible that there are none. Please check.”  

Accepting that not all schools and buildings in Armenia are accommodated for people with special needs, Ashotyan, however, noted that the country has done a huge amount of work in this direction, and that “no Eastern European country has” the inclusive education programs of Armenia.

“I don’t think there would have been [any applicant] parents who would have petitioned to the Assessment and Testing Center so that they [the Center] ensure some suitable conditions for their children, but [the center] would not have ensured,” Armen Ashotyan added.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am