HADRUT. – Classes at the secondary school of Hadrut town, in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), were not suspended for even one hour during the days of tension in early April.

Looking at the children running around the corridors of the only school in town, one realizes that the border tensions have not entered through the walls of this school.

“Our guys are standing at the border [with Azerbaijan]; we need to be strong,” Grade 12 student Srbuhi Balayan told the Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter on location. “We are maintaining the rear, they—the border.”

The school has about 550 pupils, and fifty of whom will finish school in several days and they all have plans for the future.

Everyone at the secondary school of Hadrut knows 16-year-old Tatev. She has a great singing voice, she is the soloist of all school events, and she sings Armenian folk songs. Tatev, however, has decided to become a kanun player.

“Now, I’m practicing in Hadrut; once I finish, I will go to study in [the NKR capital city of] Stepanakert,” said Tatev, who also loves football, and the songs of famous musician Serj Tankian, lead singer of the world-renowned American Armenian rock band System of a Down (SOAD).

Photos by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am