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On the eve of the 2016-2017 academic year, Rector of Armenian State Pedagogical University, Ruben Mirzakhanyan, held a working meeting with the academic staff of the University.
At the beginning of the meeting, he referred to the admission statistics and presented a comparative analysis between acceptance rates for 2016 and that of the previous year. The rector stressed that although the number of ASPU students will remain much the same, a decline in their number is unavoidable as the total number of applicants in the country has decreased by 30 percent.
Mr. Mizakhanyan said the number of students is directly proportional to the number of lecturers: the more students they have, the more their workload will be, the more hours they will have. “We should try to spark interest among students with our daily work and activities. Also, the diploma of an ASPU graduate should be evaluated by employers,” he stressed in his speech.
The ASPU Rector then focused on a number of issues which were in the centre of attention of the Rector’s Office and the Academic Council in the previous academic year, including introduction of new educational technologies. He noted that interactive teaching methods and techniques must be applied for all courses. “This format of teacher-student cooperation has been applied in the leading universities for many decades. The lesson should be interesting for students, who should be actively involved in the process and be familiar with the topic in advance. This is the usual way for an educational institution to keep its status and develop,” the rector added. He stressed that the future belongs to research universities and reminded once more the best students complete Master’s courses: they should be encouraged and engaged in research activities.
Speaking about Master's thesis topics and contents, Mr. Mirzakhanyan urged to refrain from buying extensive works sold by different people, copying from others and advised paying attention to the relevance of the topic, performing their own analysis and working independently.
The ASPU Rector stressed that with the direct participation of lecturers, as well as thanks to the laboratories [operating inside the University], a number of exchange programmmes and cooperation with the leading universities of the world, ASPU students will find their places in their professional fields.
During the working meeting, Ruben Mirzakhanyan also spoke about the salaries of the teaching staff, noting that there will be further increases in pay.
“Soon we shall present you news criteria. If professors meet them, their salaries will be doubled and even tripled. Let me remind you that this will be done despite the fact that the university budget has not changed and ASPU remains the only university in the country which has not raised tuition fees for many years,” he added.
At the end of the meeting, the rector wished everyone success and a year full of scientific and creative achievements.
