Justifying tuition hikes in a number of colleges and universities, Armenia’s Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan yesterday stated that the budgets of certain colleges in Armenia were insufficient to guarantee future development and that colleges needed to invest in new technologies in order to provide a quality education.

Ashotyan made the statement when meeting with students at a Bazeh pan-Armenian gathering of young people.

The Minister said the tuition hikes were needed to attract leading foreign experts to Armenian colleges.

Ashotyan added that the Ministry is studying approaches that will strengthen state assistance to those students in financial need.

The tuition hikes will only affect first year students, said Ashotyan.

Responding to a proposal made by the students to draft some sort of discount program, Ashotyan promised to hold public hearings, which would include students, on such legislation.

Minister Ashotyan also called on students to be more active and to demand that college administrations be more transparent when it comes to the expenditure of tuition monies.