CORRUPTION LEVIES HEAVY TOLL ON ARMENIAN

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.

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


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.

--------------
EDUCATION FOR SALE
--------------


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.

--------------
A GOOD FRIEND BETTER THAN A GOOD CITIZEN
--------------


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."

--------------
CONSCRIPTION FUELS CORRUPTION
--------------


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.

--------------
NO WOMEN SCIENTISTS?
--------------


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.

--------------
TOUGH STRUGGLE TO BATTLE CORRUPTION
--------------


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.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


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