Kristineh Aghalaryan
Shushan Stepanyan

According to students residing in the Zeytoun dormitory, they are paying more than the normal daily price as defined. They say they have no choice given that they’d have to pay several times more if they rented rooms in Yerevan.

“I pay 50, 000 drams, others more. When I wanted to get a room here they told me 95,000 drams. I accepted even though I didn’t know the rules because it was convenient,” states a student who wished to remain anonymous. The student stated that even if he knew he was paying more than normal he would have done so. “We can’t do a thing about it because rental in Yerevan or so expensive, even given normal conditions.”

“I also am paying 100,000 from the first day. I didn’t know that the price was actually 50,000” says Anna. In 2007, Anna paid 80,000 instead of the 44,000 she should have. (All student names are fictitious to prevent possible repercussions, including eviction from the dorm)

According to the Ministry of Education and Science (MES), the rental for one person at the Zeytoun dorm for the 2008-2009 scholastic year, for both students and aspirants, is set at 50,000 drams. The year before the rental fee was 44,000. The law requires that the dorm management must inform all students regarding the rules and regulations as prescribed.

Some of the students we talked to complained that they weren’t familiar with the rules and didn’t even know about the set rental rate. “The amount they quoted was what I paid to the “paret” (dormitory manager),” Anna states. Those informed as to the official rental rate stated as much to the “paret” who was forced to allow them to only pay the 50,000.

When it comes time to register for occupancy it is taken into account that the rooms are intended for three people. When there are vacancies a corresponding payment on that basis is demanded. Also, brothers and sisters aren’t allowed to reside in the same room. Dormitory manager Artur Matinyan states that, “The rules dating back to the Soviet period doesn’t allow for brothers and sisters in the same room, but many do because they have received permission from the MES. However, the regulations mention no such restriction.

Armen, a graduate of Yerevan State University from outside the capital, vouches for what the students claim. Armen lived in the Zeytoun dorm up till 2007. At first, he shared a room with two girlfriends and later with his brother. “When my brother arrived and we decided to live together the “paret” stated that we couldn’t. But he said he could arrange it for an additional 50,000. He claimed that only students at state colleges could reside in the dorm and my brother was enrolled at a private institution. He stated that we had to pay for the two of us as well as for the third person. We did the math and saw that it still worked out cheaper, so we paid,” recounts Armen.

The MES regulations state that if one student wishes to reside in a room alone they are obliged to pay for the other two spots – a yearly total of 150,000. Several students, however, claim that for the same room they’ve had to pay upwards of 250,000.

The “paret” also declared that whether one person occupies the room or two, they still pay for the other spots but that the additional payments can differ according to whether or not the student(s) are registered at state colleges or not. He couldn’t state for certain what those additional amounts were. “It’s the director that decides who should pay what. I’m not responsible for the financial side of the matter. We aren’t obliged to allot rooms to those studying at non-state schools. It’s the director who decides whether it is possible or not. You have to ask him about such issues,” the “paret’ opined.

When asked who many non-state school students were living in the dorm and what were they paying manager Matinyan answered, “I’m not authorized to give out such figures. Besides, you people don’t represent a legitimate government department and neither are you from the Tax Service.”

However, even such rental conditions are favourable for the students since a one room apartment with all the facilities in the suburbs goes for around 50,000 per month and that works out to 500,000 for the school year. This is a big chunk of cash especially for the parents of a student coming to Yerevan from the countryside who also have to pay for his/her tuition, meals, clothes, etc.

After the recent renovations to the Zeytoun dorm the living conditions are suitable for students, even though the kitchens and bathrooms are communal. There is one shower and it costs 500 drams for 30 minutes. There is even a central heating system that operates during the winter months.

It’s not that difficult a process to get a room in the dorm. One needs to get a certificate from the corresponding school. If there’s a room vacancy one just needs to pay.

Both ROA citizens and students from overseas, whether registered at public or private colleges, can apply for a room. However, according to manager Matinyan, overseas students and those enrolled at private colleges must pay more than those enrolled at state schools. As to how much more, he couldn’t say. Non-state school students are allocated rooms only after public school students have been housed. “All that is done by contract and it’s the director who sees to it,” the “paret” noted.

All students must be given a receipt by the cashier’s office after paying. The student keeps one copy and the other is handed over to the “paret”. However, those students who claim that they have paid more than permissible by the regulations state that the amount was paid not to the cahier but to the “paret” himself and that no receipt was given. The “paret” claims that “he has nothing to do” with those amounts and that such monies are only left with him when the cashier is absent and that he always hands the monies over to the cashier later on.

Vahram Mkhitaryan, Executive Director of the “Zeytoun Students Fund” states that they issue receipts to everyone. “Some people don’t take their receipt. If there are those that want one, let them come. We’ll give them their receipt. Why are they complaining?” Mr. Mkhitaryan also claims that the students always pay the cashier, never the “paret”. “I can’t imagine that extra payments have been collected. Those with complaints should come and see me and state who they paid the extra to and who took the cash.”

“Paret” Artur Matinyan suggested that we invite those with complaints to his office and that all questions be “taken care of” in our presence. Later on, however, when Mr. Matinyan presented the receipts signed by the cashier and those collected by him, along with the personal details of the students, in which there were payments made in excess of the allowable 50,000 drams, he avoided our same request to call in those students who made the extra payments. He answered that these were discounted or additional payments based on other factors. “I only collect those receipts. They bring them to me already signed and I take them,” he added.

Ara Khachatryan, who heads the financial division over at the Ministry of Education, stated that ministry isn’t authorized to review the operations of the “Zeytoun Students Fund”. The only connection is that the Education Minister is the president of the Fund’s Board of Trustees,” Mr. Khachatryan verified.

In the end, the “paret” advised us not to follow up “such student talk”. “Perhaps some students are just angry at us for this or that reason and that’s why they say such things,” he concluded, adding that those students with problems should stop by his office and they’d try to resolve them.

The above article was written as part of a workshop entitled  “Raising the Role of the Media in Covering Justice and Law Enforcement System “ organized by the “Journalists’ Team for Sustainable Future” NGO, (cjteam.org).