As Schools Open in Armenia, Education Minister Sends His Children to Pricey Private School

Armenia’s Education Minister Armen Ashotian visits a public school on the first day of classes

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Education Minister Armen Ashotian insisted on Tuesday that he does not lack trust in Armenia’s public education system managed by him despite sending his children to an expensive private school.

Ashotian was visibly annoyed by journalists’ questions regarding the school choice as he visited a public school in Yerevan on the first day of the new academic year officially marked in the country as Knowledge Day.

His two young sons, meanwhile, had the first day of school at Ayb, one of the country’s most expensive and prestigious private centers for primary and secondary education. The school charges its primary-level students 2.5 million drams ($5,200) per annum, suggesting that Ashotian and his wife pay 5 million drams in tuition fees. The figure equals Ashotian’s entire annual salary.

The cost of the boys’ education, very high by Armenian standards, has raised questions about the credibility of the minister’s official income declarations. His decision to enroll them at Ayb has also lent credence to a widely held belief that education standards in Armenia have been declining despite various reforms announced by the government in recent years. Some critics of the government have portrayed it as an effective acknowledgement of the government’s failure to reverse that decline.

“Please do not intrude in my private life with video cameras and voice recorders,â€