Lilit Gevorgyan is a student in the soloist section of the Faculty of Vocal Theory at Yerevan’s Komitas State Conservatory. She is in the third course and has excellent grades. But due to the fact that she can’t make her tuition payments, Lilit faces dismissal from the Conservatory.

Lilit is 21 years old and resides in the village of Mrgashen in the Kotayk Marz. She comes from a one parent home, her father having passed away years ago. Her mother barely makes ends meet by taking in outside wash and house cleaning jobs.

Lilit was accepted into the Conservatory’s preparatory class after graduating from the art school in Kanakeravan in 2003. She passed her entrance exams with flying colors but was admitted on a tuition basis of 400,000 drams per year.

Lilit says that, “At first I didn’t want to attend classes. I was later told that as a dependent of a one-parent household and a socially deprived family I could get a reduction in my tuition. We applied to the Rector of the Conservatory but was told by his Secretary, Shush Mehrabyan, that first semester students aren’t granted such reductions because the students are new to the institution and not much is known about them.”

According to the ROA law on “educational matters” tuition deductions are defined for students who fall into certain categories. Despite the fact that Lilit is eligible for such reductions under the three special categories so listed (one-parent family, socially needy family and excellent school grades) her tuition wasn’t cut even during the second semester of the first year. The Conservatory’s reasoning was the same as before - we still aren’t adequately familiar with first year students.

Stepan Sukiasyan, Conservatory Vice-Rector in charge of tuition affairs, states that, “Tuition discounts are granted to first year students only in exceptional cases. Even without incurring such cuts the Conservatory is in the worst financial shape of all higher institutions.” The Vice-Rector went on to say that he is amazed at those students who have no resources but fill out the application form as if they can pay the tuition. He concluded, “Let them wait till next year, then we’ll do our best to get their tuitions covered.”

Lilit’s mother took out a loan and was able to pay her first year’s tuition. After handing in the required paperwork, the Conservatory granted Lilit a 30% tuition waiver that reduced the amount from 400,000 drams to 280,000 for the second year.

Lilit recounts that; “At the time the “Tzaroukian Fund” was granting full scholarships to those students paying tuitions. We applied to the Fund and were hopefully awaiting a positive response. Several months later we got a call from the Fund stated that the scholarship program had ended.” The student says that they tried to personally meet with Gagik Tzarukyan, a businessman and member of the National Assembly, but that, “We knew nobody close to him to arrange such a meeting.”

Letters that the family sent to Sergo Yeritsyan, then Minister of Education and Science, and Hranush Hakobyan, Chair of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, went unanswered. 

Mr. Sukiasyan points out that, “The students apply to various bodies and they in turn write to us saying to assist the students within the limitations of the law. Which student should we assist? It’s not just one or two.”

Lilit’s mother has taken out another loan with interest in order to pay the tuition. She’s been paying off the interest in installments.

“My mom has paid a total of 200,000 drams. We still owe 80,000 for the second year.” says Lilit and adds that at one time she also found work to ease the family’s burden. “I worked as an actress in the Children’s Cafe from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and was paid 1,000 drams per day (around $3.00). It was a pittance. I only wound up falling behind in my lessons.”

Due to her tuition debt, the school is refusing to allow her to take exams. They also will not be cutting her tuition for the first semester of the third year. Later on, however, the teachers compromised a bit and said they’d allow Lilit to take her exams on the condition that she pays the tuition in the future.

Mr. Sukiasyan explained that, “Tuition reductions are based on the funds we have on hand. In other words, if tuitions are to be cut for a small number of students then naturally the rate of the reductions increases and vice-versa. Generally we reduce tuitions by some 30-50%. This can go as high as 70% or so if the student wins some prestigious international prize, etc. This is seldom the case however.”

Presently, Lilit owes the school a total of 380,000 drams in tuition fees. She says, “I really don’t know where I’m going to get that kind of money. I’m looking for a job now but the only work available is as a waitress or a salesperson. In any event, I couldn’t work and attend classes at the same time.”

Vice-Rector Sukiasyan notes that, “The final deadline for tuition payment was March 15th. We’ve done all that we can. We’ll be forced to remove her from the Conservatory come this May.”