The Human Rights Defender’s Office of the Republic of
Armenia regularly receives information due to various circumstances on
disruptions of the normal course of the teaching process in general education
institutions, manifestations of intolerance in teacher-student-parent
relations.
As a result of monitoring of the mass media and social
media networks by the HRDO staff, it was recorded that an incident occurred at
a secondary school in Merdzavan village, Parakar community, Armavir region,
during which some teachers, students and parents demonstrated unacceptable
behavior towards a history teacher, accompanied by widespread hate speech.
Videos involving children were also circulated on the Internet in connection
with the incident, the further dissemination of which may target children. The
Defender considers targeting of children to be unacceptable.
The Defender also finds it deeply concerning that in all
these processes, the right of children to education and to live and develop in
a safe environment, and the right of a pedagogical worker to be protected from
actions that denigrate their professional reputation and dignity, are not
ensured.
The Human Rights Defender attaches great importance to
the state’s role in ensuring individual and societal security and sustainable
development in the field of public education.
The Defender emphasizes that any manifestation of hate
speech, including on the basis of ethnic or national identity, must be excluded
from public discourse and calls to refrain from expressions and behavior that
promote hatred and intolerance, especially in general education institutions.
At the same time, the Defender urges that the process of
publishing and disseminating materials with the participation of children
related to the incident at the Merdzavan secondary school be guided exclusively
by international and domestic standards on the protection of personal data, and
to prioritize the best interests of the child and the principle of not harming
the child.
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