YEREVAN. – The universities are raising the tuitions at the universities, and they are responsible for making their own decisions. Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Arayik Harutyunyan on Wednesday stated this in the National Assembly, answering the respective question of Mikayel Melkumyan, a member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia faction in parliament.

"The ministry has nothing to do with it. In this regard, we will discuss their complaint with the students, and I believe we will find some solutions," Harutyunyan added.

And asked why the elections of several university rectors were being delayed, the minister responded as follows: "Major political changes took place in Armenia in 2018, and universities played a very important role in the political processes that preceded it. The conditions that exist today in the same universities are natural in terms of adjusting the coordinates. I can accept the criticism that there is a certain delay. But by your logic, we should provoke artificial processes so that rectors are appointed quickly. [But] we will not do that; we will let it happen through a natural process."