US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN399

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 YEREVAN 000399 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN; DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, AM 
SUBJECT: CORRUPTION LEVIES HEAVY TOLL ON ARMENIAN 
UNIVERSITIES 
 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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2. (SBU) Widespread corruption in the Armenian 
university system has severely tarnished the reputation 
of once prestigious institutions and degraded the 
quality of education provided to Armenian students. 
Students, NGO members and government officials describe 
a system consumed with bribery, patronage and other 
corrupt practices.  Inadequate salaries for professors, 
cultural acceptance of patronage networks and student 
draft deferments perpetuate a system with numerous 
negative societal consequences, including shutting 
women out of post-graduate programs and producing 
graduates with limited professional competencies. 
Despite recent GOAM efforts to initiate anti-corruption 
programs, the university system presents substantial 
obstacles to reform efforts.  End Summary. 
 
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EDUCATION FOR SALE 
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3. (SBU) Current and former students told us that the 
Armenian university system is corrupt at all levels. 
Salaries for professors and university administrators 
are woefully inadequate, creating a system where 
university admission and grades are openly "for sale." 
One Yerevan State student informed us that most 
students "don't contribute to the development of the 
university, they contribute to the budget of the 
university."  Students describe professors who offer 
"sample exams" on test days for a minimal fee, up to 
the highest marks for an entire course for USD 20-100. 
A culture of conspicuous consumption has developed in 
certain departments (most notably the social sciences), 
where students brag of their perfect marks as a not-too- 
subtle reference to their affluence.  Students assured 
us that those who choose to study rather than bribe 
their professors rarely face punitive grading; the 
system has, however, developed an incentive structure 
that encourages students to pay rather than take a 
chance on their own academic performance.  Alumni of 
the post-graduate American University of Armenia (AUA), 
an institution established by Diaspora groups, the 
University of California and USAID in 1991, contend 
that in Armenia only the AUA programs are "clean" and 
students' assessment is performance based. 
 
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A GOOD FRIEND BETTER THAN A GOOD CITIZEN 
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4. (SBU) Armenians also describe a cultural dimension 
to the corruption.  Armenians generally have large 
support networks of friends and family that are 
expected to provide assistance in social and business 
affairs.  Even distant relatives are obligated to use 
their personal connections to university administrators 
and professors in lobbying for special consideration 
during the admissions process.  Most Armenians do not 
consider such behavior as further corrupting the 
system, seeing these social networks as a vital part of 
Armenia's culture.  As the mother of a university-age 
student told us, "If I have to decide between being a 
good family member and friend or good citizen, I must 
choose my friends and family." 
 
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CONSCRIPTION FUELS CORRUPTION 
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5. (SBU) Military conscription encourages further 
corruption and degradation of the Armenian higher 
education system.  At age 18, the government requires 
Armenian men to perform two years of military service, 
often under poor conditions.  Students may defer their 
military service while enrolled in undergraduate or 
master's programs (up to six years), motivating many 
men to prolong their studies as long as possible. 
Students tell us how parents save money to pay off the 
university testing board and use personal contacts to 
pressure school administrators to admit their otherwise 
unqualified or unmotivated sons.  Current Yerevan State 
students describe an intellectual environment that is 
severely corroded by draft 'deferrers' who view their 
time at the university as means for postponing the 
inevitable rather than a period for serious academic 
study. 
 
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NO WOMEN SCIENTISTS? 
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6. (SBU) Students who complete a full-time doctorate 
program at a public university are entirely exempt from 
conscription.  The limited supply of Ph.D. degrees 
granted by public universities (usually two per 
department) coupled with Armenian men's high demand for 
these degrees has created a system where women have 
been increasingly shut out of doctoral programs.  The 
National Statistics Service reports that in 2002, out 
of the 155 full-time Ph.D. students, 6 were female. 
Female undergraduate students from Yerevan State told 
us that they simply would not be competitive in the 
doctoral admissions process, as men pay large bribes to 
secure the seats in the programs.  Women also face 
substantial family pressure not to compete against male 
relatives for admission to Ph.D. programs.  The market- 
driven competition for these programs, which favors the 
better connected and well-funded, dilutes the quality 
of once prestigious doctoral programs in the sciences 
and humanities. 
 
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TOUGH STRUGGLE TO BATTLE CORRUPTION 
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7. (SBU) In October 2003, President Kocharian appointed 
Baghrat Yesayan as the Presidential Advisor on 
Corruption.  Yesayan launched public hearings into what 
he considered the 10 most corrupt sectors of Armenian 
society (including education, medical services, 
utilities and the police), and began issuing formal 
recommendations on reforms necessary to combat the 
corruption.  Yesayan made the higher education system 
his first priority and submitted his findings in 
January.  Yesayan told us that most of the anecdotes 
shared by students were accurate and noted that the 
widespread corruption in the university system had 
substantially degraded the quality of Armenian higher 
education.  He also told us that unless the GOAM 
addressed university corruption in its entirety, little 
substantive progress would be made. 
 
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COMMENT 
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8. (SBU) Corruption throughout the Armenian university 
system is increasingly affecting broader societal 
interests.  In recent years, the number of women 
pursuing post-graduate degrees has declined to minimal 
levels.  If the trends continue, a generation of women 
could be excluded from certain professions, especially 
the sciences.  Since diplomas from Armenian 
universities do not demonstrate that a recent graduate 
has the skills necessary for professional work, some 
private-sector employers require applicants to undergo 
professional competency tests as part of the 
application process.  A recent study by Japonica 
Intersectoral surveyed Armenian employers and found 
"general discontent with core competencies and 
professional skills demonstrated by recent graduates." 
Most employers (especially the government), however, 
recognize that most recent graduates are equally 
unqualified, and hire employees the same way students 
are frequently admitted to the university: by reaching 
an accommodation with the applicant's support network. 
 
9. (SBU) Despite recent government attempts to address 
corruption, it remains deeply engrained.  The 
university system is an example of an Armenian 
institution that operates within a predictable range of 
bribery, patronage and other forms of corruption.  The 
depth of the problem is compounded by the multiple 
factors perpetuating it: the GOAM could address some of 
the causes of the corruption by eliminating student 
military deferments (the National Assembly is currently 
considering such a bill that would end deferments and 
exemptions for post-graduate study), or somehow finding 
revenue in a small budget to raise professors' 
salaries.  But no government program could counter the 
cultural acceptance of partiality and bias in tit-for- 
tat deal making.  The GOAM is increasingly willing to 
entertain proposals to combat corruption, but, as 
Yasayan said, a lot of work is necessary to "redefine 
practices and attitudes." 
ORDWAY